Pulvis Et Umbra Sumus
by a-salty-tol
Summary: A damaged robot wakes in a charred land and is taken in by a trio of humans. Given the name Link, he discovers the post-apocalyptic land of Hyrule- a number of scattered villages and a city of robots and humans. As he adjusts to his new life, the mysteries of who created him, what truly happened 200 years ago, a covert 'rebellion', and an age-old legend come to surface.
1. Lost and Found

**This story is rated T for violence, language, drug reference, and a few dark themes mentioned later on. **

* * *

A hot, stifling wind forced its way across the vast junkyard. It pushed around smaller pieces of metal and made its way around the larger chunks. A lizard huddled under some of the twisted metal, burrowing deeper, looking for shelter. It ventured inches, feet, yards down, seeking asylum from the wind. Perhaps ten feet down, it hit rock. It scurried back up just a bit and hit something else other than rock or rusted and twisted metal. It was smooth and comparable to human skin.

The lizard clung onto it and crawled up. Whatever it was, it twitched. The little animal crawled over parts where the smooth covering had holes, exposing the metal from inside. It crawled up, and found a larger hole, like an opening, the covering attached to the rest by unseen hinges. It crawled in, wedging itself between two shaped parts, and remained where it was.

The structure twitched again. Toes curled, fingers bent, and a shaky breath escaped a mouth. The robot shuddered. Inaudible, invisible messages flooded into the robot's mind, pushing away the questions of why it's awake, why it's breathing, why it has a mind. Instead, messaged about sustained damage, low power, failing systems, and a 'chest cavity' being open were the priority. It started registering the heat, the cramped space around it, and its eyes opened, casting a faint blue glow on the nearby metal.

Legs bent and kicked out; arms shifted while fingers pushed away small scraps. The head turned and looked around. It was trapped and needed to get out. It reached up and started dragging itself up, pushing and displacing the junk it climbed past. It dragged itself up, an odd instinct of survival worming its way into its mind, the main motivation for his inner machinations to keep functioning. It climbed up, inch by inch, hour by hour, at a painfully slow pace- at least from the perspective of a human. The robot remained patient.

Finally, its hand broke the surface, the oppressive, scorching heat reaching the skeletal inner structure. The little organism in the robot's chest cavity squirmed but remained in its place. It pulled itself out of the metal, wheezing and running out of power. It got to its feet on the hot metal, and idly shut its chest cavity. Its vision was blurry, a constant ringing in its ears. Despite the disorientation, it knew that it was in a world that had the name of Hyrule.

The damaged robot wandered through the dim wasteland, dragging its feet on the metal and sand. It didn't feel pain, but it felt the heat of the air and wind. It panted- the intake of air helping power its circuits to keep it moving. Its optic structure was damaged, making it hard to see anything through the static. The audio structure was pretty much destroyed, and nothing but faint humming rang in the robot's ruined ears. Arms swung at its side, useless and broken from pushing away debris, and it was only a matter of time before its legs broke down as well. Its chest cavity was shut but loose, and most likely filled with sand, and half of its face had the synthetic covering stripped off, the other side scratched, but not beyond help.

Help. It needed to find help. He. Something in the back of the robot's mind reminded himself that he was male. Where was he? When was he? Nothing resided in his memory logs except the past few minutes of walking and the hours of climbing. Everything before that either didn't exist or was erased. But he needed to find help. Another thing in the back of his mind poked at him. His head twitched to the side. Whatever that thought was, it felt like an itch. As he peered through the static, something in the back of his mind pondered where the kingdom was before it went silent.

His hand twitched. The twitching became a shake, and the robot was suddenly trembling all over. He forced himself to stop walking. It didn't feel like a malfunction- he was just shaking and shivering violently. Finally, it stopped. He drew himself up straighter, peering around, trying to get a good view of the land before his vision stopped. Suddenly, all of his joints locked up, forcing him to stand rigid and straight. The joints loosened, and he fell onto the jagged ground.

Breaths came in faster and shallower. Emotion welled up inside- emotion? He was a robot, he doubted he was supposed to feel emotion. Either way, fear dominated his thoughts. He was going to be lost, buried and burned by this hot wind. And he lay there for what felt like hours, pondering his fate. The wind eventually died down, but he hardly noticed, his tactile senses all but failing. He was laying on his side, the world fading around him. Hylia help him, he was going to be buried again.

His vision stopped working soon enough, and all he could do was listen to the occasional creak of junk and metal around him. His breathing was shallow, and his tactile senses failed before long. He shuddered. He only had his audio senses left. He was alone- no. Footsteps. There were footsteps in the distance, coming closer. Low voices, the fluttering of cloth in the wind. A Hylian, most likely.

The footsteps inched closer and closer. They were approaching him. The footsteps stopped a few feet from him. At that point, his hearing was almost nothing but static, but the footsteps were still audible. Now, the Hylian talked again, a voice responding. Their exchange went on for a few minutes, and the footsteps reached the robot's side.

With his tactile senses still barely hanging on, the robot was dimly aware of hands wrapping around his waist, turning him over. The Hylian then scooped him up into their arms, holding him against their chest. His audio senses failed just as the Hylian turned and walked back from where they came from, and the robot knew it was, hopefully, going to be repaired.

His head rested against the Hylian's chest- he could feel the heartbeat. The rhythmic, constant pulse was the only thing he could focus on. He was faintly aware of a similar beat in his own chest, a simulated heartbeat in the chest of a robot. His creator must have wanted him to function as humanlike as possible. The Hylian's heartbeat speed fluctuated as they walked. The robot focused on it until his final sense died out, and he was left floating in utter darkness before his power finally ran out.


	2. Awake

A low whirring was what woke the robot. He lay where he was with his eyes closed, dimly aware that his senses had returned. He could feel the smooth surface beneath him, smell the faint scent of oil, see the dim light beyond his synthetic eyelids, and hear that dull whirring. His senses had returned to him, somehow. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and those strange messages flooded his mind again. Severe structural damage. Memory logs null. Location: Unknown. Temperature: 87 degrees Fahrenheit. Time of day: 3:48 a.m.

He shut his eyes tightly. These messages were annoying. They faded soon enough. He opened his eyes again, staring at what was directly above him. Smooth metal. Steel, his mind reminded him. And patches of iron. A smooth ceiling. He shifted his gaze, looking at as much of the ceiling as he could. A few oil lamps were hanging from chains in the ceiling. It was bright in here. It didn't seem to be a large room.

Ine the back of his mind, he realized that his vision was strange. There was perfect vision out his left eye, but nothing out the right. It was like it was broken, not working. He felt movement out of his left eye when he looked around, but nothing from the right. Did it break out in the wasteland? What happened?

He sat up, using his erratically moving arms to support himself. An uncomfortable tension pressed on his arms. Pain. He could feel pain, emotion, and temperature. With a shuddering breath, the robot stared around the room. The word that came to mind was 'workshop'. Metal parts and other miscellaneous items were strewn about on tables, tools hanging on hooks on the walls.

He was still lost. He didn't know anything about where he was or what kind of world he was in. Just that it was supposed to be called 'Hyrule' The whirring came from a dimly glowing object on one of the tables around him. After a quick test to make sure that his arms worked, the robot slid off the table, standing unsteadily. His legs shook as his weight settled on them. He peered around the room, spotting a spherical object glowing a faint blue.

He blinked at it, remembering that his right eye didn't seem to be working. He bent down to properly get a look at it. Most of it was white, a little circle of blue surrounding black in the middle. Opposite of the blue was a mess of wires. The robot reached down, closing his vulnerable fingers around it. He held it up and use his other hand to reach for his right eye socket. Empty. What he was holding was his other eye.

A strange chill ran through his circuits and he gently set it back down. He turned to the wall with the door and found himself facing a small mirror. He could see his face. The synthetic material remaining on the left side of his face was of a pale complexion, becoming frayed and eventually torn off on the right. On the top of the left side of his head was synthetic hair of a dirty blond color. The right side of his face was exposed exoskeleton and wires, along with the structure of a pointed ear. His left ear was covered with synthetic skin.

Another word came to mind. 'Hylian'. He had referred to his savior as a Hylian. He looked like a... Hylian. Not human. But still human. Hylian. But not alive... a robot. The creaking of the door made him flinch, and he scrambled to get back on the table. The door swung open as he managed to retake his place on the table, shutting his eyes and hoping he still looked shut off.

Someone entered the room and walked beside the table. They paused at the end of the table, at the robot's head, and moved something on one of the tables. A few silent moments passed, and a finger tapped on the robot's nose. "Sit up, I know you're awake."

The robot blinked his eyes open. A Hylian was peering down at him, but their face was mostly obscured. Before he could get a better chance to see them, they walked around to his side. "Sit up."

The robot hesitated, then sat up. He watched the Hylian, who was sorting tools around. The collar of their dark coat was flipped up, hiding the bottom half of their face. They turned, the goggles over their eyes making it hard for him to see what they were looking at. They regarded each other for a moment, and the Hylian asked, "Can you speak?" Their voice was gruff. Male, then.

The robot paused. He shifted, then tested the question. "...Yes." The sound of his own voice surprised him. His voice was much higher than he assumed, but still male. "Did you bring me here?"

The man shrugged. "Yeah. Out in the wasteland. Who created you? You're the most complex robot I've ever seen." He walked back around to the table behind the robot. The robot turned and watched him pick up the eye. "After all, this eye still activates when not connected to you. I could tell you were awake from its glowing."

"...Strange," the robot muttered. "Where are we?"

"In the wasteland."

"Who are you?"

"An engineer. I'm repairing you best I can. Good thing I have synthetic material..." His voice trailed off and he picked up a square of white cloth. Or, rather, it at least looked like cloth. "Do you have a name?"

"No. I am just a robot- my memory logs have been cleared out."

"Well... I've never met a robot like you. Your inner skeletal structure is much like a Hylian's, and the containers in your chest cavity don't seem to open. One is small and has wires connected to everything, and the larger is connected up to your neck. There was a lizard wedged in there. You look extremely human- I even thought you were some mutilated person until I got up close." He walked back over to the robot, holding the eye in his right hand- his hand was gloved. The robot turned his head, peering at his other hand. No glove.

"Can you shut yourself off?" the man asked, looking him over.

The robot frowned and shut his eyes. Thoughts floated through his mind, and he sighed. "Perhaps there is a physical switch."

The man sighed and set the eye on the table beside him. "You're very realistic. Maybe it's like sleep. Damn it..." He walked away from the table.

The robot frowned and reached up to his neck, laying back down. He felt around his neck, pushing the hair away and found something inset into a stiffer part of synthetic skin. He frowned to himself. He pressed against it but found nothing. He returned his hands to his side and resigned himself to watching the Hylian pace.

Time passed, and every faded. The Hylian eventually left, and the robot sighed to himself. Time lost meaning soon before he seemed to doze off.

The robot was alone when he next woke. The right eye had been returned to his socket, feeling as though it had never been taken out. He sat up. The room was a bit dimmer. Muffled talking came from outside. He peered around the mostly unchanged room and found a notepad on one of the nearby tables. The robot slid his legs off the table and walked over.

His best guess was that the engineer had written the notes. The scrawled writing was in simple Hylian. He looked it over and read the notes. They seemed to be observations of him when he was... sleeping.

_Robot seems male. Very realistic, the creator was very skilled. Should take some time to repair. Eyes glow blue when robot 'wakes up' and will glow even when not connected to robot. Can speak cohesive __Hylian__, well programmed and designed. Synthetic skin is recognizable, along with hair material and metal skeleton, but containers inside chest and material lining the inside of metal, (seems like it used to cover the skeleton) is unrecognizable. Has markings __similar to__ material in ruins around the castle, however._

_The others are very interested in seeing him, but I want to fix him up first._

_There are some engravings on his back. Most of it, covering __a majority of__ the back, is in the same language covering some ruins and __Sheikah__ tech- undecipherable. However, there is one word written at the base of his neck. Perhaps his name. 'Link'. _


	3. Introductions

The next few days had a usual schedule: the engineer would wake Link and do some repairs as they talked. He was very gruff, but Link trusted him to repair him.

"Have you ever repaired other things like me?" Link asked, keeping still, standing in front of the table while the engineer fiddled with parts in his chest. By then, his face and arms had been restored, his five sensed perfected. This engineer was skilled, but every time he worked while Link was awake, his hands shook, and his eyes darted around erratically.

"Sure. I make money by repairing other people's robots and creating my own. I don't make money as often as the others, but it's quite a bit."

"There are others?"

The engineer nodded, removing his goggles and shrugging off his coat. "Yeah." He turned, gingerly placing his coat on a cleared table.

His coat was a pretty blue color, white stripes on the ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the coat as well as the collars. Link had stared at it and asked, "Did that ever belong to a sailor?"

"It's always been mine. There is said to be an ocean far away, but I've never had a chance to see it. I want to see it one day, though." He turned back around, closing the chest cavity. "Once I'm done fixing you up, you can meet the others."

"Okay."

Most days were like that. Link would ask about the others and the engineer himself. The engineer looked tired, if Link had to describe him. His skin was darker than Link's, his hair long and a greenish-brown color. His eyes were green with dark circles underlining them, and his face was generally unshaven. He seemed gaunt and thin, his cheeks and eyes sunken, his arms thin. His left arm was thinner than his right, the black glove constantly covering it. A small, wired device was tucked behind his right ear, a few wires trailing down into his shirt.

His outfit was always the same, a white dress shirt and light blue vest, and the same silk scarf. Link often asked what the others looked like. The engineer usually said that the others were a man and a woman, both tall but not as tall as him. He informed him that Link was shorter than all of them. As he repaired the bottoms of his legs, the Hylian described what they each looked like. The man had pale, almost gray skin and white hair, the woman with black and bluish-gray skin, fiery orange hair.

"When can I meet them?"

"Tomorrow," He assured him, finishing on his legs. "I need to fix your eyes. Can I ask you a quick question?" He looked awkward, stitching on the rest of the synthetic skin. The expression on his face was one of pure discomfort. "Have you ever seen a small creature floating around me? Or heard a high-pitched, accented voice speaking?"

Link frowned. He shifted where his was sitting. It had been around a week since their first meeting, with the notes. The engineer had rather quickly patched him up, and now it seemed like his eyes were the last to be fixed. He was now covered in that synthetic skin, his face repaired, and the hair returned. He looked almost human, if not for the glow of his eyes and the chinks in the plating between joints. Link nodded. "Yeah. It seems to float around you, some little creature with five... tentacles? It talks with you, doesn't it?"

The engineer nodded and stood up. He returned his tools to the table and put his coat back on. "Your eyes are fine, then. You'll be the only one who can see that, but the others know about it. I'll get some clothes for you, and I'll show you to the others tomorrow." He looked Link over, and the robot seemed to flinch as the little creature showed up out of nowhere.

It didn't seem to be real. It floated around, nothing like any creature Link could think of. The engineer talked with him before leaving the room, going over what he had done and asking for comments. It seemed to be sarcastic. Every time, before starting, the engineer would say something to it, and it would disappear during the repairs.

A few times, Link asked him his name, and was told that he would be told later. He was getting impatient, but he would deal with it. The engineer left the room without a word. Link shifted on the table and stood up. He reached for the doorknob and twisted it. Link had never tried opening the door, and he was now repaired. The knob turned, and there was a slight click. Link paused and glanced behind himself one last time.

He pushed the door open and stumbled into the hallway he found himself in. The walls were sleek wood, just like the room he had woken up in. It was well-lit by more hanging lanterns down the hall. Link quietly shut the door behind him. It was at the end of the hall. Two other doors were the first things he saw. He crossed his arms and peered down at himself. It might be strange to run into some of the others, considering he looked nude. Perhaps he should have waited for the engineer to provide him with clothes.

Nonetheless, he walked down the hall. It was warm, but not uncomfortably so. Not like the wasteland he had been found in. But, according to the engineer, it seemed that the world was the wasteland. Link stopped at the two doors. He reached for one of the knobs but froze. What if he walked in on someone? Better to try and explore what was open.

The hallway led into an open room. One wall had stairs leading up to a second floor, and there was a metal door across from him. A table was in the middle and a few bookshelves were along the walls. Link walked into the middle of the room. A frayed rug was under the table, and a faded couch was in a corner. He stared around for a bit, anxious about if someone would see him. He needed to get back to the repair room before he was seen.

Link flinched, hearing footsteps on the floor above him, and ran back down the hallway. He fumbled with the knob and stumbled back into his room. Bad idea. Let the engineer introduce him. Less things would go wrong that way. He returned to his prone state on the table and listened to the faint noises outside. Talking. A pair of voices. Male and female. Neither were the engineer or that little creature.

It didn't take long for Link to doze off again.

* * *

"Wake up," the engineer muttered. He tossed some mound of cloth on top Link before he could sit up. "Put this on. I'll introduce you to the others and we can figure out what to do with you."

Link sat up and watched the engineer pace for a moment. The little creature was by his head, chattering very quietly. He stared at it, then turned his attention to the clothes. They were a pale green color, a short-sleeved tunic and some pale brown pants. No shoes. He slid off the table and quickly pulled the clothes on. He straightened them, then smiled at the engineer. "They fit really nicely."

The engineer just nodded and motioned towards the door. "C'mon, then." He crossed the room and pushed the door open, leaving Link behind.

It was so sudden that it took a few moments for it to register in Link's mind that he needed to follow. The engineer seemed desperate to get it over with. Either way, Link followed at a distance, not bothering to glance at the doors they passed. He reached up and tugged at his shirt. It was soft, certainly comfortable. He couldn't help but wonder how the engineer had gotten it. He'd mentioned a city a few times, both in speech and in his repair notes.

This time, two people were waiting at the table. They were the man and the woman that the engineer had described. The man with gray skin and white hair leered at him almost menacingly, and the woman had curiosity in her yellow and red eyes. The engineer beckoned at Link to indicate for him to stand beside him. "This is Link. He's that robot I found. Once I can figure out as much as I can about him, he'll help out around here." The engineer walked a bit closer to the table, and Link did the same.

Link stopped a few feet from the table. The engineer strode quickly around the room and settled in the chair across from him. Link glanced at each of them. "...Hello."

"So, it speaks!" the man with white hair exclaimed. He sat up. He was wearing a peculiar suit, originally white but stained gray. Diamond shaped holes were cut in the front of the shirt and down the legs of his pants. Black leather boots were on his feet, however. "Our crazy engineer friend here tells me that your name is Link. I'm Ghirahim, remember my name. Store it in those 'memory logs' you seem to have."

Link nodded timidly. "...Nice to meet you, Ghirahim." He rubbed the back of his neck, turning to the woman. She was wearing a black cloak with slightly glowing blue shapes. Underneath was a simple gray shirt and leggings with what seemed to be metal kneepads and greaves. "Who are you? The engineer never told me any of your names."

The woman blinked and frowned. She turned to the engineer. "You didn't tell him your name?"

"Didn't tell him 'bout Bellum, either, but he knows about him, too."

The woman groaned. She smiled weakly at Link. "I'm sorry about him; he's a stubborn jerk. I'm Midna, by the way, and I've been tasked with the unfortunate job of watching over these two morons." Midna let the smile drop and glared back at the engineer. "Your turn. You owe him your name."

The engineer scowled. Link blink, awaiting an answer, and spotted the little blue creature again. Every so often, while it floated around the engineer's head, it flickered. Link stared at it, absorbed in wondering what it was and almost didn't notice the engineer tell him his name. "...I'm Linebeck."

Link blinked and nodded. "Thanks for telling me. What is that little thing that keeps appearing around you?" He pointed at it as it froze, peering over at Link. It has a single eye that seemed to be in a mouth with sharp teeth- a strange looking little thing. "Is it even alive? I've heard you speaking with it a few times."

"That's Bellum," Linebeck explained, pointing to it. "He's like a personal AI. I'm... pretty sure I created him." He moved the goggles up to his forehead and pointed at his eyes. "You know how I have light green lines in the whites of my eyes? They have something to do with letting me see him. The tiny chip behind my ear allows the robotics connected to me to work."

Link smiled. "I assume that you created it. From the looks of the things I saw in the workshop and the repairs made to me, you seem to be very skilled."

"I am, thank you." Linebeck leaned back and crossed his legs on the tabletop. "For the next week I want you to start helping us around here. Don't open the metal door in the hallway until I tell you to." The little AI, Bellum, rolled his eye and muttered something to Linebeck.

Link glanced from Ghirahim to Midna. Neither of them seemed to notice anything about Bellum. "Am I the only one who can see or hear Bellum along with Linebeck?"

Ghirahim nodded, standing up. "Only robots and people with eyes like Linebeck's can see them. So- only robots and Linebeck." He scowled, facing away from Linebeck, but Midna took notice. "Anyways, I'll show you around our humble little base here. I assume Linebeck has work to do, and Midna's got business in the city. She'll be out until midday tomorrow, providing she leaves soon. You can spend a day with her once she gets back." He shot a quick glance at her, and she rolled her eyes at him.

Link's smile faltered. "You guys don't seem to like each other much."

Linebeck shrugged, getting to his feet. "We're like a family!" He walked around the table, keeping his distance as he passed by him. "One hell of a dysfunctional family."

While he left to the hallway, presumably to the workshop, Ghirahim clapped his hands together. "Well! Let's get started. I'll show you the inside and outside today, and you will help with crops, cooking, upkeep and general life afterwards! We'll take you to the city the next time we all go, too." He gestured for Link to follow and motioned to a doorway to another room. Link frowned but said nothing. Compared to most everyone else, he was wearing the strangest clothing.

Ghirahim didn't wait for him to follow. He walked off to the doorway, leaving Link behind. Midna sighed and waved half-heartedly at Link before walking to the metal door and pulling it open, leaving the building.

Link sighed, shuddering a little. He had been repaired and introduced to the group he'd be living with. In that sense, he had been saved. On the other hand, he didn't know much about the world... yet. His memory was erased, though. But perhaps that didn't matter. Something seemed off either way. He turned and jogged after Ghirahim.


	4. A Curt Tour

"Kitchen," Ghirahim said, gesturing to the room he and Link were standing in. It was just a little smaller than the room Link had just been in- Ghirahim referred to it as their meeting room. It had another table in the middle of the room, with a few plates stacked up in the middle. Ghirahim glared at the plates for a moment. He picked them up and walked over to a sink, next to a line of cabinets. He tossed them in, cursing under his breath. "I shouldn't be mad," he sighed. "I left those. I often forget to clean up after myself as Linebeck is rambling... he was talking about you a few hours ago, and it distracted me."

"Oh, does he do that a lot?" Link walked over to the other side of the room. It was mostly a long table with marble on the top, a few ice boxes and a large metal box. With a curious tilt of his head, Link pulled open the metal box and was greeted with a cold breeze. And the view of some food. "What's this? It's really cold..." A small blue box was tucked in the top right corner of the box. Link bent down and reached for it.

"Don't touch that," Ghirahim sharply snapped. "You'll mess it up." He cleared the room with a few long strides and tugged Link's hand away from it. "Linebeck spent forever creating that and, I am not exaggerating, he will kill you if you mess with it. Last time one of us screwed up something he was working on, he threw a knife at us. And his aim is all but dead-on."

"Is he a bad person?" Link timidly whispered.

Ghirahim laughed, closing the door to the metal box. "Oh, no. He's just an eccentric kid. He's got problems, more so than Midna or I. He cares about his work and can be selfish at times. Midna's little 'pranks' sometimes get out of hand and she's all kinds of mischievous. I'm the truly mean one, and they tell me I'm arrogant and headstrong. You just seem naive. By the way, that little device cools down the box and maintains a temperature to preserve our food without having to freeze it."

Link blinked, stepping back a little. "Wow. That's... impressive."

Ghirahim snorted, walking off to the meeting room. "I guess. His little projects and creations fetch a tidy price in the city and help us out around here, but... he's a workaholic. He spends too much time locked in that damn workshop, forgetting to eat, forgetting to sleep... To be fair, we've sometimes tried to see if he can help us with our own memories, but none of the three of us are even sure where to start."

The robot hurried after him. "What do you mean 'help us with our own memories'? Are they faulty or something?"

"You could say that," Ghirahim muttered. They headed upstairs, the wooden staircase proving to be much sturdier than it looked. The stairs led them in a tiny circular room with three doors. "These are our bedrooms. Linebeck doesn't use his very often, so he won't care too much if we look, but I dunno about Midna." He crossed his arms, and Link made a mental note that one door had a unique symbol on it. Link peered up at Ghirahim's face in time to see a devious grin tug at the corners of his mouth. "Let's check out Linebeck's room first."

They pushed open the door, and Link inspected the symbol quickly. It simply looked to be a little hourglass shape with a small symbol engraved in the middle; it looked like a water drop above a slightly curved line. Ghirahim walked into the cramped space first and threw out his arms in a theatrical gesture. "Linebeck's tiny little snoozin' area! He never actually sleeps in here. My room is much nicer." He took on a more relaxed posture and placed a hand on his chest and a hand on his hip. "Of course, I have the best taste in our little group. A much more intellectual aesthetic, if you get what I mean. I must match my outward appearance with my potential, after all." He let his arms drop and added, "I act as a guard and do most of the non-robotic related hands-on work."

"I take it you're strong, then," Link murmured. He took in the small room as he walked in. It was dim. A lantern on a bedside table offered a warm glow. The room was mostly bare save for a wardrobe and tidy bed. "There's nothing in here."

"Exactly!" Ghirahim shouted with disgust. "It irritates me. The man goes out of his way to assert that this is _his _room, and then doesn't do anything with it." He whipped around with a flourish and left the room. "I'll show you Midna's next."

Midna's room was the same size but looked smaller due to the amount of stuff. Her bed was messy, the pillows and blankets shoved aside. A spear was propped up against a wardrobe with a mirror on one of the doors, and a bright lantern hung from the ceiling. A raggedy rug covered the ground, a few books stacked up by one of the bed frame's legs. "A mess," Ghirahim mused, "But not a waste of space."

"I thought she'd be much more... organized," Link muttered.

"Oh, we all thought that when we first met her. She had an almost 'queenly' aura about her, and then you realize it's only in looks. She's much more easy-going that you'd expect. My room's next!" The excitement in his voice sounded fake, like it was more for show than for genuine expression. Link regarded him closely. The hair covering his left eye was eccentric on its own and paired with his clothing... he looked to be a fan of the dramatic. Even his smooth, deep voice added to his over-the-top demeanor.

"Why does she have a spear?" he asked, pointing at the weapon.

"Oh, that," Ghirahim drawled. "There are monsters out in the wasteland. She's got two spears; she took the weaker one today." He slammed the door just as Link pulled his head out of the doorway. "She and I are fighters. Linebeck is all bark and no bite; keep that in mind. The biggest threat from him is his knife-throwing."

Ghirahim's room was the cleanest, and Link actually entered it on his own. The bed was tidy, a small pile of swords in their scabbards piled up on the blanket. "It's nice," Link muttered. He walked over to the window, pushing aside the drapes. His breath caught in his chest. He hadn't seen the outside since first waking up.

The sky was a pale orange, a few spots of faint blue. The ground was covered in dying grass as far as he could see. Trees dotted the landscape, a few with small, brown leaves. Link squinted through the glass and spotted small collection of buildings in the distance. Link backed away from the window. His mind conjured up pictures of healthy trees and patches of vibrant, green grass, of blue skies and fluffy clouds. "...This is Hyrule?"

A hand clasped over his shoulder and Link whipped around the face Ghirahim. He frowned down at him. "You know the name of this land?"

"It came to mind when I woke up," Link softly whispered. "It was already in my mind. Is this Hyrule? It looks... dead."

Ghirahim smiled grimly. "That's because the world ended."

"W-what?"

Ghirahim closed the drapes. "The rumor is that, two-hundred years ago, something happened and wiped out the old kingdom of Hyrule. People on the outskirts were the only ones who survived, and they worked on rebuilding, but were unable to use the old technology. Since then, the world's been all hot and dead. The city is the capitol of this new Hyrule. Let's head outside. I need to show you the outside of the house and I can show you what the world's like up close. C'mon, c'mon." He backed out of the room, the robot following swiftly. He shut the door behind him.

Once back downstairs, Link glanced over at Linebeck, sitting at the table. He had removed his coat and had both sleeves of his white shirt rolled up. Small screwdrivers and tweezers were lined up in front of him, and he held one of the screwdrivers above his right arm, laid palm-up on the table. Ghirahim walked right past him, airily asking, "Recalibrating?" but Link stopped and stared.

Linebeck's left arm didn't match up with his right. His right was normal, human and alive. His left looked like bones at first glance. It was made of a bronze-colored metal, in the shape of a skeletal Hylian's arm, the hand with long, thin fingers. Wires connected up and down the arm, trailing into his sleeve. Linebeck was unscrewing a part in the joint connecting his upper and forearm. He didn't notice Link staring for a few moments. "...You need something?"

"Are you a robot, too?" Link blurted.

Lineebck rolled his eyes. "Obviously not." He leaned back in his chair and propped his left leg up on the table, pulling the pants leg up to his knee. A skeletal leg made of the same material as his arm. "I've just got some prosthetics. Quite honestly none of your business." He waved for Link and Ghirahim to leave.

Bellum appeared by his ear from out of nowhere and peered at Link. His voice was higher than Link expected. "Get out if you have nothing to do in here."

Link glared at the little AI. "I keep forgetting that you can talk." He sighed and jogged after Ghirahim, who was shooting skeptical leers at both Linebeck and Link. "Sorry," he mumbled, passing by Ghirahim and pushing open the metal door. Warm air blew past him, and Ghirahim shoved him outside.

It was not a hot as it had been when Link first woke. He glanced around, walking out a few steps and turning around. The inside of the building had been wood, but it was plated with metal on the outside. It was built in the middle of a dip in the ground, a sign above the door that read in crude letters: 'Rain Keep'. Link frowned and pointed at it. "Is the building called Rain Keep?"

"It's a pun," Ghirahim said, sounding tired. "Linebeck came up with it. We do our own farming, which we figured out in the early days. We had a hard time collecting water since the nearest lake, Lake Hylia, is in the inner circle, about a mile away. Whenever it rained, which is rare, it evaporated quickly. One of Linebeck's first projects was a type of container in the roof that would collect and keep rainwater cold enough to keep from evaporating. If we needed water for farming, we could climb up and collect it. We called the place 'Rain Keep' after a few months of using it."

"Inner circle?" Link asked, glancing over his shoulder. In the distance was a large cluster of buildings, a few being very tall. There were no trees around it, though. He walked in its direction a few times, the dead grass poking his bare feet. In the back of his mind, a small voice chimed that it was 81 degrees. "What's the inner circle?"

"That's where Linebeck found you; it's also the area that was wiped out 200 years ago. Just a huge junkyard with Hyrule City in the middle. Midna's on her way there. She does a lot of business there, buying seeds, selling Linebeck's little contraptions, picking up jobs for us." Ghirahim beckoned for Link to follow him. "Anyways, I've got to teach you how to farm with us. Since you know about Hyrule, it's safe to assume that you have normal knowledge, just no memory logs."

Link reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Pretty sure. Like, I know about animals and stuff. Nothing about myself. I know how to farm. I was pretty disoriented when I woke up, but I'm doing better now." He followed Ghirahim around the side of the building and found an expanse of dry dirt, a few green sprouts sticking out. A grid of metal was built above it, with strange machines similar to what he'd seen in that metal box. Link gestured towards them. "Another contraption of Linebeck's?"

"Yeah, but Midna is the one who set up the grid." Ghirahim strode over to a pile of tools at the edge of the dirt and picked up a hoe. He tossed it to Link, who just barely caught it. It was surprisingly heavy. Ghirahim rustled around in a small box nearby and held up a tiny packet. "We're gonna plant blueberries. We picked some up at Linebeck's request and Midna gave him the idea of making you plant them." He tossed the packet at Link, but the robot allowed it to land on the ground in front of him.

Ghirahim smirked and leaned against the wall. "Get started. We've got all day. Tomorrow is when Midna gets you, and then Linebeck gets you after that." He continued to speak as Link found an empty column of dirt and began tilling it. "After your day with Linebeck, you're free to stick around with us. He's treating you as another person since you might as well be. You're the most complex thing we've seen in a while- no tech from recent years could've created you."

Link only nodded, dragging the hoe through the dirt. He'd managed to hold the seeds against the wood of the tool in his palm, planning to start planting them once done. "Are you the one who does a lot of the farming?"

"Ah, unfortunately. I hate getting my hands dirty, but I do it the best. I do the work around here, Midna works in the city, and Linebeck is all but a hermit. Ah... I don't know what they would do without me." He ran a hand through his hair with a dramatic sigh. Link set his jaw. This guy was beginning to get annoying.

"Why do you think I can feel emotion, heat... all that stuff?" Link asked, finished with the column. "Do other robots feel that?"

Ghirahim grunted. "No idea. Linebeck's all about that stuff, remember? Ask him when you get to stick with him." He hesitated, and added, "Just don't touch him."

Link frowned. He ripped a hole in the corner of the seed packet. "Don't touch him?"

"You heard me," Ghirahim drawled. "I'll go get some water..." He walked off, and explained, "There's a ladder up onto the roof in the back. When you farm by yourself, you'll need to know where it is." He disappeared around the corner and Link scowled to himself.

He knelt in the dirt and sprinkled the little seeds in the tilled earth, spacing them out the way he knew they should be. He doubted farming would be too successful, considering how long it took for something to grow. However... Link glanced up at the little machines on the grid. They had minimal programming aside from a command spacing out the dispersion of some solution. He couldn't detect what the solution was, but he recognized it as a type of potion.

Link finished scooping dirt over the seeds just as Ghirahim returned with a bucket of water. "Oh, good, you're done. Move so I can water these seeds."

It was a haphazard method, but Ghirahim was successful by splashing about of water on the seeds. The remaining water was tossed over some of the other plants. "And that should do it!" he announced. Any more questions? I'm done doing what I had to do."

"I have a question," Link declared, returning the hoe to the tool pile. "What's the potion in those little machines? When is it dispensed?"

"It's a potion mixture that Midna mixed up. It accelerates plant growth. If you'd like, I could show it to you. There's a way to force dispersion and reset the cooldown. Get out of way and I can show you. It's dispersed ever three days, since the potion is easy to make and refill."

Link waited by Ghirahim's side as he pressed a button on the metal grid. A beep followed suit, and a fine green mist sprayed from the machines. The effect was instantaneous; a few of the green shoots grew more and a few bloomed, and the recently planted seeds grew small shoot poking out of the dirt. "That's cool," Link murmured. "The three of you seem to be a good team. I hope I can be helpful, too."

Ghirahim shrugged. "Let's head back in. At the very least, you'll be able to help us make more money. Linebeck is also pleased to have a new project to work on." He turned, Link following at his heels. "I hope it rains soon."

"How often does it rain? And, uh... one of my little message things indicate that it should rain in a few hours."

With an exasperated sigh, Ghirahim ran both hands through his hair. "Oh, I dunno... twice a month is a safe bet for rain. It's useful for you to predict the weather, though. Go find Linebeck. It doesn't take him long to recalibrate his prosthetics, so he's either in the room he told you not to enter or the workshop. Might be in his room. He found a lizard in you and decided to keep it, like the child he is."

Link chuckled to himself.

They returned to the surprisingly cooler interior of the building and Ghirahim immediately headed upstairs. Link considered following but remembered that he had no reason to. He instead walked down the hallway and knocked on the metal door. Silence followed, and Link pursed his lips. He turned and opened the door to the workshop. Linebeck was cleaning off tools inside and glanced up at him. "What do you want?"

"Is there anything I can do for the rest of the day?" Link glanced around the room, a blue flash catching his eye as Bellum zoomed around the room. The AI phased right through the lantern and slowed around Linebeck. "Ghirahim showed me around the house and showed me how to farm."

"Cool," Linebeck muttered.

"He's in the middle of something," Bellum interjected.

Linebeck smiled and waved Bellum away. "Hush. I'd like if you would sleep for the rest of the day. It's much easier to check you for further damage if you're asleep, not moving. You're more like a machine when asleep. You seem so humanlike while awake." He set down a small hammer next to a line of screwdrivers. "Please," he muttered, pointing to the table with his right hand. He wasn't wearing the glove, so his cybernetic hand was visible. Link stared at it and sat on the table.

"Can you show me more about your robotic arms soon?"

Linebeck shrugged. "I probably will when you get me for a day. Go to sleep or something I have work to do, so I can afford to wait."

Link watched him collect a few of the tools. Quietly, he asked, "Is Ghirahim human?"

"Technically, he's a demon. We're not sure what kind. Midna's not human, either, but we've never seen anything like her. I'm probably the only human. Shut up and doze off so I can do some more repairs, or don't."

He left the room before Link could ask him anymore questions. Bellum lingered, clearly able to remain a good distance from Linebeck. "You should really just go to sleep," the AI muttered. "You don't have anything to help with." Bellum turned and floated through the door.

"Fine," Link muttered to himself, a new feeling of frustration worming into his mind.


	5. A Simple Potion

"I'm with you today," Link announced as he jogged over to Midna. It was around noon, a cooler day than yesterday. Midna was returning from the city, and he ran over to meet her. "Ghirahim showed me around and taught me how to farm. What can you show or teach me?"

Midna only blinked at him and walked right by. "Let me get back home, first. You're eager." She gestured to a bag slung over her shoulder. "I'll drop this off and deal with you later. Ghirahim showed you around the building?"

"Yeah. He had me plant some blueberries and told me that you sometimes make potions." Link jogged to keep up with her longer strides. "Linebeck did a few more repairs while I slept. Hey, why did Ghirahim tell me not to touch Linebeck?"

"I'll let Linebeck explain that himself," Midna mumbled, glancing over her shoulder at the city in the distance. "But, seriously, don't touch him if you want to stay on his good side."

"Okay... Why?"

Midna sighed. She ran up to the building, Link at her heels. She pulled open the door and waved at Linebeck. "Hey."

"Welcome back. Any parts?"

"A few. I'll drop them off in the workshop. Any problems with your prosthetics?" She paused and looked back at Link. The robot was silent and was obviously trying to blend into the background as he shut the door. "Does he-"

"Yep," Linebeck airily responded. "He knows. I'll tell him more tomorrow, so you don't need to explain it." He was walking along the bookshelves, taking books and stacking them up in his arms. Link stared at his robotic arm, transfixed by the fluid and utterly natural movement of his fingers. He walked without a problem as well, and Link doubted too many people would've suspected that he was missing one of his legs along with an arm. "Try not to set anything on fire while you show him what you do."

Link shot Midna a questioning look but didn't get any explanation. Instead, she told the robot, "Go wait in my room. I'll be up with you in a bit, but you should just wait." She nodded to him and strode off to the hallway.

Silent, Link glanced back over at Linebeck. Their eyes locked, Linebeck's goggles down around his neck. The green lines in the whites of his eyes seemed to flash, and a chill ran down his neck. Link looked away and hurried up the stairs.

Linebeck stared after him. Bellum appeared above his shoulder and murmured, "What was that?"

"No idea." Linebeck turned and put away one of the books. "Never had that happen before. Did it seem familiar to you?"

"A little."

"...Strange."

* * *

Link tapped his index fingers together while he waited. He had turned off the lamp in Midna's room and opened the curtains so that the warm sunlight could brighten the room. He almost fell off the bed as Midna threw the door open, looking more than a little miffed. "I-is something wrong?"

"Nothing, really. I just remembered that I forgot something important. Anyways," Midna walked over to her wardrobe and set her spear down with the other. "I guess I'll teach you about our business side of things and some potion-making. I am the one who made the potion that we use to help make the plants grow." She sat down on the bed next to Link. "So, what kinds of things about potion-making are stored in your little memory logs?"

Link shrugged. "Mostly just that potion-making requires all kinds of organic ingredients, different things having different effects." He glanced around the room. "Where do you make the potions? Don't you need some kind of cooking pot?"

"Oh, yeah," Midna murmured. "We've got one in the kitchen. I could show you, if you'd like." She got up and crossed her arms. "Actually, we need to restock on the growth potion! It's relatively easy to make, and we've got all of the things we need. Follow me."

"Where's the pot?" Link asked, standing in the middle of the kitchen. Midna had sent him in while she lingered in her room to collect ingredients. "Where do you put it? There's really not too much room-"

Midna casually tossed her ingredients bag onto the table and pulled open one of the floor cabinets. Inside, not very much to Link's surprise, was the cooking pot he had been asking about. She dragged it out and hefted it over to the table, dropping it in the middle of the tabletop. "It's got a base, give me a second to go get it. In the meantime, set out the ingredients."

Link nodded obediently and opened up the bag. Midna looked through more cabinets as he set out a number of dead lizards, frogs, bugs, and even a few monster parts. He sorted them by effect and watched Midna push aside of pile of pots in one of the cabinets. "What do you guys use those for?"

"Cooking. The cooking pot is reserved for potion-making, so we otherwise use normal stuff." Midna dragged out the pot's base, a lifted platform of circular metal with a small bowl underneath- most likely for wood and lighting a fire. She placed in on the table next to the pot and got to setting things up, eyeing the ingredients. "You already know what they all do?"

Link nodded and held up a maroon lizard. "This is a hightail lizard, right? Increases speed. And the monster parts change up the effectiveness and how long they work." He frowned to himself. "Do you need something to light the wood on fire?"

"I've got a lighter," Midna murmured. She dug around in her pockets, fishing out a lighter. "Got this yesterday. What I forgot was some oil. Linebeck's gonna kill me," she added under her breath. She flicked the lighter, a tiny flame appearing and catching Link's attention. He rummaged and in Midna's bag a little more and found a bundle of firewood sticks. Midna laughed. "Oh, yeah, right. The wood. Forgot about that."

Link gathered the wood under the pot, now situated on the base, and Midna lit it on fire. "Alright. How do I make that weird growing potion?"

Midna stood up straighter, crossing her arms. Link pulled over a chair and sat in it, watching the flickering flames beneath the pot. "Do we need water or anything?"

"A bit of water is needed, yes." She turned and turned a knob on the sink and collected some water in a bowl. She dumped it in the pot. "We're gonna need some speedy ingredients and some hearty ones. Get rid of everything else and leave a lizalfos tail."

Link nodded nervously and returned most items to the bag. "Can you use these violets?" he asked, holding up some purple flowers. "Do they work in potions-"

"Those are perfect!" Midna snatched them out of his hand and dropped them into the water. "No need to crush them up or anything, once we add the blood from a hearty lizard, they should dissolve." She held up the blue lizard. "Help me cut this thing up. What we need are the scales and organs."

Link stared at her, bewildered. "I- What- I know that basics, but this is a bit jarring to me!" He buried his face in his hands. Midna's laughing made him look back up. "...Huh?"

"I'm sorry," she offered between laughs. She set the lizard down. "I like to mess with people when I teach them potion-making. Here. Put the lizard in."

Link picked up the lizard by its tail. It twitched, and he yelped and dropped it on the table. Midna only shook her head with a stifled chuckle and added it to the now boiling water. "Now, the others aren't as good with potions. In case you were wondering, I can actually do some minor magic."

Link nodded, watching the lizard corpse in the water. The water started to turn a faint purple color, the flowers drowning. "Hey, can I ask something?"

"Shoot," Midna responded, leaning over the pot. "This should be done in a few minutes. Without magic, you would actually have to crush the flowers and cut up the lizard." She held her hands over the pot and the blue symbols on the back of her hands began to faintly glow. "What's the question, robo-boy?"

"Ghirahim said that you guys have problems with your memories," Link said, scooting his chair back a few inches. "What did he mean?"

Subtly, Midna's eyes flicked to the entrance of the kitchen. Linebeck was still out in the main room, flipping through a few books- not really reading them. Like he was looking for something. Bellum caught a glance of Midna's quick look and must have alerted Linebeck. He glanced up, the goggles over his eyes. Midna turned her head and waved nonchalantly and turned back to Link. Her voice was hushed. "Listen, we actually don't really know. Long story short, we think we have amnesia.

"I might as well tell you the whole thing. One year ago, the three of us woke up in some half-buried house about a mile west of here. We woke up together. We remembered nothing but our names and some general facts about ourselves. A bit like you, minus the personal details. We decided to team up and found this place, settling in while learning about Hyrule. As it turned out, we all had certain learned skills.

"I have my magic and potion-making, but it's clear that I was taught to fight. Same goes for Ghirahim- he's a formidable fighter as well. He also seems to be able to do some minor magic; he just can't control it very well. As for Linebeck, his engineering skills were proven right off the bat, and someone taught him how to throw knives the way he does.

"At first, we accepted that we had amnesia and got to learning about us. Linebeck told us about Bellum and his prosthetics and said that he had no idea when or how they were created- so we have no clue how Linebeck lost his leg and his arm. There's no way it was an accident like an explosion either. The limbs were on different sides of his body, after all. It wasn't until maybe a few months ago that we started suspecting that it wasn't normal amnesia.

"Linebeck managed to create some temporary goggles for us- we could see and hear Bellum for a limited amount of time. They weren't good creations, and they broke fast, but we were able to hear what Bellum had discovered. He can access Linebeck's and his memories, and, as an AI, he was able to detect that his own memory was cut off- he knew that something was missing. He did a bit more testing and theorizing and was able to imply that our memories were actually forcibly taken."

"Whoa..." Link murmured. "Why did you look nervous about Linebeck back there?"

Midna sighed with a shrug, moving a hand to add the lizalfos tail. "He considers restoring our memories to be another project of his, and he wanted to be the one to tell you. Oh, hey, did Ghirahim tell you not to touch him?"

"Yeah. I told you about that. Why?"

"...Eh... it's better for Linebeck or Bellum to tell you. But, seriously. If you want to be his friend, do not touch him. He seems mean and rude at first, but he can be really nice. He's just not good in social situations." She moved her hands to get a look at the pot's boiling contents. Link peeked over to see as well. All three ingredients were nowhere to be seen, and the water had turned to a soupy green color- a bit darker than the mist he had seen.

"Done?"

"Hell yeah. Wait for me outside and I'll show you what we do with it."

* * *

Link bent over, peering at the little sprout. Midna crouched over it, pouring a little drop of the potion onto the plant. The thick liquid seemed to simmer, and then seeped into the soil. The plant shuddered and grew just a little more, growing taller with more leaves. Midna smiled and replaced the cork back onto the potion bottle. "Cool, eh?"

"That is cool," Link murmured. He straightened himself and glanced around. It was a bit cloudy, now. "Where do you, uh, deposit the potion?"

"Over here," Midna declared, striding over to one of the supports for the grid. "I could show you how to do it."

He followed her over to a small metal box with a hole in the top. Midna tugged the cork back out of the potion bottle and fit it upside-down into the hole. The potion leaked out of the bottle until it was empty, and there was a high-pitched _beep_ from the machine. "That's all," Midna murmured. "Now, then. With normal potion-making, without magic, it takes a bit longer; you've got to let the ground-up or cut-up ingredients simmer, let them sink into the potion. My magic just melds everything together. I sometimes sell my potions in the city marketplace or use them on the way there. Hey, let's head up onto the roof. There's a better view of the city from up there."

She led him back to the wooden ladder, leaning against the back wall and bolted to the building at the top. It was sturdier than it looked, but Link still went slow. He wasn't about to break mere days after being fixed. According to Linebeck, he was probably the most complex robot in the world. He wasn't going to ruin that. The mystery of his own creation was one that Link wanted to figure out.

He skirted around the water-basin set in the middle of the roof and met Midna at the edge. She sat with her legs hanging off, staring at the cluster of large buildings in the distance. "Hyrule City?" Link guessed, standing next to Midna.

"I suppose so." She shrugged. "That is the name. We'll have to take you soon. I visit the most, a Ghirahim often comes with. Linebeck hates the city because of how crowded it can get. He prefers it at night."

"Why?"

"He's uncomfortable around other people." Midna leaned forward a bit. "Anyways... the city is a bit smaller than most people expecting. It's fairly technologically advanced, so you'll fit in."

Link nodded and sat down next to her. "There are other robots?"

"Well, yeah! Both robots and humans live in that city. None of them are as nearly advanced as you, of course, but they're cool. Most can't talk, but a few can throw out a few sentences. Most times, they're stiff, made by amateurs, as Linebeck likes to say. Most robots are made to help out around shops or help farm, a few made to battle. Those ones have truly well-made parts. But they're common. A few have built-in AIs, like thought processes. A few can think for themselves. But, seriously, you're the most well-made robot we've ever seen."

Link smiled weakly. "You're sure? I mean... wasn't stuff two-hundred years ago really advanced? I doubt I'm as good as stuff back then."

Midna laughed. "Hah! Linebeck spends his city time dragging the two of us to the ruins around the castle. He likes digging up all of the old robotic shit he can find around there and experimenting or tearing it apart. He told me himself- you're the most advanced bit of machinery he's even laid eyes on. On the other hand, Bellum is the most advanced AI. But, seriously- we need to figure out who built you. Or maybe it's not important."

"B-But it is!" Link suddenly blurt, twisting to face Midna. "I _need_ to know who built me! I haven't been awake very long... but I just... have this longing to _know_! When I was made, why I was made, who created me... Hah... this is all hitting me now... but... Please. Help me learn the answers." He drew his legs up and hugged them to his chest. "I'm too curious."

He shifted away when Midna reached for him. Finally, she sighed. "You're a weird little robot, that's for sure. Listen. Bring this up with Linebeck." She looked up at the cloudy sky. "He's the one in charge of you. Besides, better to live in the present than dwell in the past, right?" She yawned and stood up. "Let's head back inside." She tapped Link on the shoulder as she passed him. "Let's go. It might rain soon."

"It'll rain in an hour," Link idly mumbled as he got to his feet. "It's getting a bit colder, around eighty-three degrees." Midna shot him a bemused glance, but he only shook his head. "Don't ask," he softly mused. "I get little messages in the back of my mind; one of them records the weather predictions and temperature."

"That's cool."

"I guess."

"How the hell do you think someone would program that?" Midna asked, the first down the ladder. She lowered herself down a few rungs, then jumped down the rest of the way. Link was much more cautious. "I mean, you can't really predict the future."

"What I think it is," Link said, mostly thinking aloud as he followed Midna back to the front of the 'Rain Keep', "is that I'm taking in information about the world around me, and it's processed and turned into a weather forecast."

"Damn. That's pretty cool." Midna pushed open the door before Link walked into it, herding him away from the doorframe and following behind him. "I bet Linebeck will check your software tomorrow, get a look at your programming. The day after, you'll be living with us as normal. We'll take you to the city at the end of the week." She nodded and smiled down at him and walked off. "The rest of the day is free! Have fun or whatever."

Link waved half-heartedly at her, and noticed, with a jolt, that Ghirahim was staring at him from the hallway. He returned his glare, and the man scoffed at him. "Why are you staring at me?" Link accused.

"Haven't seen you all day," Ghirahim dryly responded, crossing his arms.

"And?"

They glared at each other. Midna had gone upstairs, and Linebeck was probably working on something, so they were alone and giving each other nasty looks. Link scowled and walked over to the hallway, passing by Ghirahim. He put forth an attempt to shove him in the shoulder with his own but missed and instead pretended as if nothing happened. He made his way back to the little workshop, now a little desperate to sleep.

No point in waiting for Linebeck this time. Link laid down on the table, and the words 'mood swings' wormed into his mind. He smiled to himself. Sounded about right.


	6. An Aphenphosmphobe

"I'm gonna test you today," Linebeck mumbled, holding up a clipboard. He had a number of papers on it, Bellum reading them over his shoulder. "We'll be outside for a bit, but for now I've got a few questions."

Link blinked, sitting upright with his legs crossed. "What kinda questions?"

Linebeck glanced at him for a moment, avoiding making eye contact. "How old are you?"

"Uh... I dunno."

"Great. I'd say you're around two-hundred, considering you were made with the same materials as the ruins around the castle."

"Wha-"

"However, I need however old you are mentally. How long you've been awake, technically. If you could sit still, I can check that." He walked around the table until Link could no longer see him. The robot flinched as his metal fingers fished through Link's hair, finding something on the back of his head and pressing on it.

A click followed, and Link was presented with the unpleasant sensation of a part of his head chipping and falling off. "What happened?"

"It's like a little hidden control pad," Linebeck explained. "I can access your software and programming from here, connecting you to a little console I recently created to get a look at it." He tapped at a few things in the pad, each touch sending a little shock through Link's body. Linebeck stepped away from him, and Link watched him from over his shoulder.

He collected a pair of identical objects, each looking to be the shape of a small arrowhead. They had been placed next to his goggles. Link could see the inside of the strap on the goggles. The stretchy cloth was black, but small parts of it was gold. Link stared at it. Linebeck walked back over to him with the little objects. "Turn back around. I need to put one of these in." He held them up, holding them in his intact hand. His hand was callous and scarred, the little items in his palm.

Link shook his head. "Why can't I just do it myself. Here, I'll take it-" He reached out and meant to take one of the items. Linebeck jerked his hand away. Link turned and grabbed his wrist with one hand and reached for it again.

Link's eyes flicked up to Linebeck's face and he froze. He had gone deathly pale, his pupils dilated in fear. He roughly jerked his wrist out of Link's grasp, shaking, and backed away a few steps. It seemed like an over-the-top reaction for what had happened... but he was shaking, and his breath came in as shallow gasps. "A-are you-"

Linebeck shot a withering glared at him and tossed on of the objects at him. "J-j-just shut up. P-put it in. G-goddammit... do you e-ever listen?" He fumbled with his own item, getting a good grip on it. Bellum shimmered to life above his shoulder and started whispering to him. Link stared down at the little arrowhead-shaped thing and reached the back of his head.

He experimented with both sides, looking for a slot. It took a few moments, but it slid into a small indention. "It's in," he mumbled. "Why'd you react like that?"

Linebeck ignored him. Bellum murmured something in his ear, prompting him to nod. While Linebeck messed with his item and the console, Bellum floated over to Link. "I take it the others told you not to touch him and you just ignored them?"

Link pouted. "I thought they were joking."

"You're a moron. Linebeck wants me to explain it, so I'll explain it. The thing is that Linebeck has aphenphosmphobia."

Link blinked, amazed that the little AI was able to pronounce that. "Aph... Aphen... What?"

"Otherwise known as haphephobia, chiraptophobia, or thixophobia. The fear of being touched by other people. He's terrified of being touched by others, and even of touching others. Skin to skin contact is the worst for him. Let me reiterate- Do not touch him."

That explained quite a bit to Link. The gloves, maybe, his general rude attitude, his clear discomfort with repairing or touching Link while he was awake. "Why does he have aph... hephephobia?"

Bellum floated up and down, presumably to mimic a shrug. "Another thing lost with his memory. Midna did tell you about that, right? We overheard." Despite the unease this little creature instilled in Link's mind, he had an instinctual trust of him. "I mean, after all, Hylians can hear very well, and my senses are heightened as an AI. The tests he'll probably put you through will include some physical and mental tests, general stuff. Just, y'know, don't touch him."

A silent pact was created between the two artificial individuals as Link nodded to Bellum. Linebeck cursed under his breath, and the screen of the thing he was working on lit up. He inserted his own arrowhead item into a small slot, and a jolt ran down Link's spine. He shuddered and blinked a few times to clear the fuzziness in his vision. Bellum circled Link's head for a moment. "I'm gonna help Linebeck out with this."

Link pulled his legs onto the table. He watched Linebeck work, fiddling with things on the console's screen. A separate machine allowed him to manipulate other parts of the screen, and, every so often, an intense itch would manifest on the crook of his neck.

He waited in silence and flinched when Linebeck finally spoke. "Even your programming is complex. There are no commands for anything, just connections for power to limbs and such. It mentions the lungs and stomach, both seeming to be artificial. You require air, I've noticed, to keep everything moving. I can find a list of memories, but not where they're located and kept. You mentioned memory logs, correct? You don't seem to have anything by that name. There are, however, two parts that I haven't been able to find in your body, probably sealed in some of the unbreakable material that makes up your skeleton."

Understanding less than half of what he said, Link nodded.

"Your coding is strange, but not unreadable. It's simple and straight-forward... you have certain movements coded into you. Looking at them, they seem to have to do with swordsmanship... what do you know about fighting?" Linebeck turned to look at him, clearly still a bit unnerved.

Before he answered, Link dug through his own mind. He found facts about plants and the world, weather and monsters, and eventually came across a bunch of muscle-memory sword fighting movements. He knew that if he tested them out, he would be able to execute them perfectly. "I've got some movements ingrained in my mind," he offered as an answer. Linebeck nodded and turned back to the console. "Sorry for touching you. I just assumed that they meant it as a joke or something. I didn't know you were actually scared of it."

"Not many people know," Linebeck muttered as he worked. "I don't bother telling them. Not a fan of people knowing what I'm scared of. The city gets crowded during the day and rubbing shoulders with anyone is enough to make me collapse."

"So... I take it your phobia is pretty severe. What caused it?"

There was a series of small beeps from the console, and Linebeck removed the little object. Link felt a pressure that he never noticed disappear from his neck. "No idea. Another thing lost with my memory. Might be a good thing, considering some of the most common causes of aphenphosmphobia. Take your linktie out."

"M-my what?"

Linebeck held up the little arrowhead-shaped object. "This. I call it a linktie. I use it to read and edit robot's code."

Link tore the linktie from the back of his head and examined it. It was made of metal, certainly. He tossed it to Linebeck. "You can edit my code?"

"Nah. There was no option. A few robots have their code protected by passcodes and such, but yours simply could not be touched. Some expert coding. Now then, that's all for the testing in this room." Linebeck got back up, grabbing his goggles by the strap. His hand covered the golden lettering, to Link's dismay. "Follow me outside. The others are doing some farming, so we'll be on the other side of the building."

Linebeck strode a few feet in front of Link, and his little AI lingered back with him. Bellum hovered above his shoulder. "He's keeping that lizard he found in you, y'know. He's creating a little terrarium and he's named it 'Rusty'. In case that helps shed him in a better light. He hasn't been the most pleasant to you." He blinked and squinted against the sunlight once they got outside. "Gah. So bright."

"Light doesn't filter through you?"

"Nah. It's like I'm solid. It really sucks, honestly. Anyways, do you know if you're capable of eating things?"

"...What?"

"That's one of the things he'll test; whether or not you can eat and quote unquote digest things. After that will be a bunch of physical tests. Got it?"

Unable to erase the shaky quality of his voice, Link answered with a simple, "Alright."

"Cool." Leaving it at that, Bellum floated back over to Linebeck, who was waiting by a flat bit of land next to the building. He left his goggles around his neck, scribbling something on his clipboard. Without a word, Linebeck pointed at the spot next to him.

Link frowned and jogged over, standing in the spot. "What do you want me to do?"

"We're going to run a few physical tests..." Linebeck murmured, and despite that being prior knowledge to Link, he still felt a twang of nervousness.

For the next hour, Linebeck ran Link through a number of tests, jotting down notes for everything. He had Link sprint around until he ran out of breath, hang off of the edge of the roof as some kind of strength test. He made him do push-ups, sit-ups, nearly every kind of stationary exercise that Link could manage to do before collapsing out of exhaustion.

As he lay on the ground, his limbs and abdomen feeling like flaming lead, Linebeck crouched down by him. He scribbled more on his clipboard, and finally drawled, "So. You're practically superhuman. Not really of course- all of your skills and limits are at the edges of normal Hylian potential. It's truly impressive. Have you felt hunger in these past few days?"

A wheeze emanated from Link's mouth. He drew his arms to his side and attempted to lift himself, but pain jolted through his arms and he collapsed once again. "

"Ah. Either way I can test the next theory. Don't move." Linebeck jogged off, leaving Link laying on the ground like a corpse. The robot let out a weak cough as he waited.

Linebeck returned quickly. Feeling was slowly leaking back into Link's body, and he had managed to roll over into his back. "Wha..."

Linebeck crouched down next to Link. "Can you sit up? Or are you still feeling powerless."

It took some effort, but Link sat up. "I'm feeling... a b-bit better. What else... do you need?"

Linebeck handed Link a handful of blueberries. "Eat these. This is the last test for today." He poured them into Link's hand, flinching as he brushed the tips of Link's fingers. "We harvested them about a week ago."

Link inspected them closely. He took one of them in his other hand a looked it over. "I don't know what this tastes like..."

"Just eat it. If you can't actually eat, then I'll be able to clean it out." He let himself fall into a sitting position and watched with his elbows on his knees. In his other hand was the goggles, held by the strap.

Link stared at his goggles. Right now, he preferred to have a few questions answered. "What was the gold on the goggles strap for?" He placed the rest of the blueberries in one hand and pointed at the goggles as reinforcement for his question.

"This?" Linebeck asked, holding his goggles out with the gold print facing Link. It was a bunch of words- four words sewn into the black strap. Linebeck turned it back around. "It's in an old, dead Hylian language. The Sheikah actually still use it occasionally, and I found a few books on it."

"What does it say?"

"_Pulvis__ Et Umbra __Sumus_\- translated, it means 'We are but dust and shadow'. Appropriate considering my line of work, eh? I assume I had it put in myself. I rather like it, since it reminds me that all of us- Hylian, Zora, Goron, Rito, even robots- when you really think about it, we're all made of the same stuff. Dust and shadow." Linebeck paused, turning over and reading the words for himself. "Bellum's name is also in that same language."

Link held up a smaller blueberry. He contemplated the little saying, then blinked. "It is?"

Linebeck nodded and glanced around. Bellum was floating around in the distance, watching a lizard scampering around in the dirt. "Yeah. Put simply, his name means 'War'."

Link frowned. "War? Why's he named that?"

"Hell if I know. But I know the glitchy bastard has a strange bloodlust." Linebeck let out a short cackle, then shifted his attitude, giving Link a stern glare. "Eat the damn blueberry."

Link maintained eye contact with him as he popped the little fruit into his mouth. He chewed it for a few moments and swallowed, registering the taste and being surprised that he had apparently had prior experience with it. He tilted his head back and poured the rest of the blueberries into his mouth. Linebeck jotted something down on his clipboard.

While Link swallowed the rest of the blueberries, Linebeck cleared his throat. "So, then. Tell me if you encounter any problems that might be linked to that. But I'm hoping that nothing will happen." He got to his feet, offering a small smile at Bellum as the AI rushed back over to them. "Let's head back in. That's all the testing for today. I've gathering some interesting information. Thanks."

"No problem." Link grunted as he forced himself to his feet. His lungs and arms still burned, and he silently cursed his unknown creator for making him so humanlike. "...Hey, Linebeck?"

Linebeck, already halfway to the door, paused. "What."

"Why do you think I was made to be so humanlike?"

"...How about we consider that theory with the others some other day? That room I've been working on is almost finished, and I'd say you're ready to fully join the group. Hell, we're actually gonna have an end-of-the-week celebration. Why don't you help me set it up? Or, more rather... Help me cook by handing me stuff. I don't trust you enough."

* * *

Link tossed Linebeck a teaspoon, then turned back to the soup he and Midna were collaborating on. It was watery and a pale-yellow color, and Midna had reassured him that it was supposed to look like that. She cut up half of an onion to dump in before passing to Linebeck, who was making a fish and rice mixture, adding in garlic and onion across the room. Ghirahim was milling around, poking his nose into whatever they were doing and evidently looking for something in the kitchen. He boasted about his own cooking skills, all while Midna periodically rolled her eyes.

Link added a handful of cut-up cilantro and jumped as Ghirahim drawled, "So, robot, how has been the past few days for you been? Of course, my tour must make the most of an impression... our touch-starved friend tells me you can fight! We must spar."

"You're acting different," Link mumbled.

Ghirahim scowled, tugging open a cabinet. "I was nice to you. Surprise, I'm a jerk. Wanna know our favorite hobbies?"

Link sighed. "Sure," he mumbled, slicing up a newly harvested potato.

"Ah, of course. I enjoy fighting monsters outside the borders of our tiny land claim and visiting the city! I have fun with challenging other sparring partners and increasing my fame."

"And drinking," Bellum smarmily added. Link had forgotten that he was silently watching everyone, phasing through everything in his way. "Remember when you drank so much that you got _stupidly_ drunk and made Linebeck have a panic attack because you kept falling against him like some disoriented redead?"

"IRRELEVENT!" Ghirahim snarled. Link inwardly cringed, feeling bad for Linebeck, and even Midna grimaced. Apparently, that was no one's favorite memory. He glanced over his shoulder, getting a glimpse of the downright terrifying glare Linebeck shot at Ghirahim, how clearly didn't notice. "Moving on to Midna's hobbies."

"Hylia spare me," Midna dramatically groaned.

"Team hunter and wolf friend! Don't ask me how, but she can talk with wolves. Plenty of animals survived the end of the world and have mostly adapted to the warmer temperatures." Ghirahim slipped between Link and Midna and took a quick sip of their soup. "...Mmmm. Needs more salt. Anyways. Midna's like the resident witch- working both literal and metaphorical magic in the city, doing favors and making connects. She's also got it bad for the city's reclusive leader, Zelda."

Midna only laughed and scraped some carrots into the soup. "That I will not deny. A word about the city's leader and _queen_\- she rarely showed herself and also happens to be a knockout beauty. Two out of the three here agree, as Linebeck is more into the dashingly handsome crowd." She placed a lid over the soup and turned the dial on the stove, lowering the heat. "What's my last hobby?"

Ghirahim rolled his eyes, moving out of Linebeck's way as he crossed the room to the cooled metal box. "Keeping me out of fights. Is there something wrong with my instinctual drive to assert myself? To discern myself as the rightful _alpha_?"

"That 'alpha male' stuff is bullshit and you're one hell of a dull blade when it comes to being a decent person," Linebeck mused, placing his created food in the box to cool it. He snapped his robotic fingers and his index finger returned to it's normal form.

Link quickly learned that Linebeck's robotic arm had a number of features. Each of his five fingers were able to flip around at the first join, the other end with a unique use. His index finger was a razor blade, his middle finger a lighter, his ring finger a magnet, his pinkie a mini flashlight. Link had yet to know if his thumb even had a dual use. Linebeck had told him that his inorganic knee had a small engraving of the smiley face on the bronze kneecap, and Link was unsure if he was joking or not. In addition, it turned out that the limbs were not made of bronze, but a mixture of aluminum and rubber casing covered in painted fiberglass to minimize conductivity. It had taken a few minutes for Link to fully register what he had meant.

"Anyways," Ghirahim loudly announced. "Linebeck's hobbies are up next! He likes locking himself in his room, crying himself to sleep or smoking whenever insomnia decides to screw up his day-"

"He smokes cigarettes_ and_ weed," Bellum chirped.

"-and rambling on about whatever cool technology or hot men he saw at the city. A very fun guy."

"Love you too," Linebeck mumbled. He leaned over to peer at the pot of soup. "Smells good," he whispered. "I like the copious onions."

Linebeck waited by the cool box (Link didn't know the proper name for it yet) and Ghirahim apparently gave up on his search. Midna periodically checked on the soup, and Link went through his recent memories at the table. He then blinked and looked at each of the others in turn. "...You guys are like a family."

"A _dysfunctional_ family." The tone of Ghirahim's voice was patronizing.

"Like a bunch of siblings," Link added. "You simultaneously love and hate each other with mutual feelings, but care nonetheless. I think I'll like it here. Hopefully."

"Whatever," Midna sighed. "Soup's ready. We just need to heat up whatever Linebeck was making and get some glasses of water and we'll be good to eat."

Linebeck sighed. "You phrased it as if we're being eaten. It's technically '_it'll_ be good to eat'-"

"Did I ask for your opinion, smartass?"


	7. To Hyrule City

Link had a room of his own. It had been Linebeck's project, the metal-doored room. He had been instructed to go and check it out on his own while the others fawned over Linebeck's pet lizard- aptly named 'Rusty'- up in his own room. For now, Link stood in the middle of his new room.

It was small, similar to the other rooms in that respect. It had been a few days since his tests with Linebeck, and the group planned to head out to Hyrule City at dusk. Afternoon sunlight brightened the room through the sole window. The small bed was pushed in a corner, a writing desk next to a clothing drawer. As he was a robot, Link needed less than most people, but this room seemed like it was meant for anyone organic.

Link pushed aside the covers on the bed and pressed down on the soft mattress. He had no memory of ever having slept in a bed, but, according to Linebeck, he had probably been created before the world 'ended'. Who knew how long he had been functioning back then. Truthfully, he was eager to learn about the current world. He knew of Zelda, who ruled the city, and the Sheikah, acting as her personal guard, but that was all.

On the other hand, he had been learning more about himself during the past few days. Linebeck had been going through his mechanisms beneath his skin, and left parts of his notes on the writing desk. Link sat on his bed and looked over the notes, each page from one of the past four days, each about different strange mechanics in Link.

_Decided to break open his chest again. Cleaned out some more sand and dirt. Might do something about the rust on a few of the iron parts. The lungs are softer than I expected, perhaps to allow for them to function as the real organs would. They connect to the throat and then have smaller tubes leading to the rest of the body. Why he requires air to keep working is beyond me. I'll check that tomorrow. _

_Still can't decipher the writing on his back. I'll try and find something to help me translate during the next trip to the city. His stomach is much more solid than the lungs and is __actually accessible__. No trace of the food I had him ingest as a test. Checking nearby, with no luck as to finding more traces, it's safe to assume it was turned into pure energy in some manner. While the 'lungs' are in the middle of his chest and taking up little space and his stomach located directly beneath, the strange container remains in the left of his chest. _

_It's held in place by some more of those __Sheikah-esque__ beams, with the strange engravings. In the engravings is a faint light that pulsates. In addition to this, there is a constant 'beat' of a sort with the origin being that container. I believe it's safe to say that whatever that is, it may act as a heart. _

Strange containers in the place of organs. Link's creator really did want him to be as much like a human as possible. He turned the first page of notes over, finding a detailed sketch of the insides of Link's chest. He stared at it for a few minutes, then set it aside.

The three other notes were similar, but shorter. The second detailed the insides of his arms and legs. Linebeck had written some interesting notes about the style of Link's endoskeleton limbs being eerily similar to the design of Linebeck's prosthetics, albeit more advanced. The inside of his outer layer had small, wired boxes tucked against it- Linebeck theorized that they allowed for tactile sensation and the ability to detect temperature.

The third note was about the structure of Link's face. Linebeck had gone to great lengths to peel away as much as the skin and shell off of the endoskeleton skull to get a better look at the underneath mechanisms- a thought that sent a shudder through Link's body as he read the process. It was apparently much like a Hylian skull, with a wired jaw, his eyes connected to another container- a pseudo-brain, as Linebeck had assumed. Like the heart, he was unable to get a look at the inner wiring of it. The rest of that page was a few short sentences about how he replaced the covering.

The last notes page was short- his observations of Link's mannerisms and behaviors, and a list of clothing that had been created for the robot, placed in the drawers. Link got up and set the notes in the desk's drawer, then inspected the contents of the drawers. Tunics similar to what he was currently wearing, pants similar to his current style as well. Two pairs of boots were in the sock drawer. Link withdrew a pair of socks and the brown boots and put them on before leaving his new room.

The others were up in Linebeck's room, based off of the talking coming from there. Link had yet to see the lizard that Linebeck claimed had crawled into Link's chest cavity, but Midna and Ghirahim gave him regular updates about the construction of the little terrarium for it. He reached the second floor and peering in through the wide-open door. It was brighter than his own room, all three of his housemates crowded around something on the desk. The best view he had was the top of a glass cage with holes carved in.

Link walked over, ignoring their mutterings about how cute the little lizard was. Since they were on their knees, it was easy to peer over at the tiny reptile in the terrarium. It was, well, a rusty color, a brownish red. Its underbelly was a light yellow, and it had small spikes along its jawline and around the back of its head. A hightail lizard. Linebeck found a hightail lizard, named it Rusty, and made it an admittedly nice terrarium. The bottom was covered in sand with a few flat stones and most-likely fake leaves. Midna and Ghirahim gave Linebeck ample space as they all watched Rusty skit around in the enclosure.

Link crouched down near Ghirahim and Midna. "It's cute," he said, partly to voice his opinion, and partly to remind the others that he was there. They only nodded. Linebeck dropped what looked to be a few dead flies through the holes in the top. "When are we gonna go to the city." He watched the lizard skitter over to the flies. "I really wanna see what it's like over there."

"We'll go in a few hours," Linebeck muttered as he stood up. "Ghirahim, you should do some farming, Midna can work on some more potions, and Link can do whatever until then. We should leave Rusty alone for a bit." He tapped the glass of the enclosure a few times, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Actually, Link, I want to ask you a few questions in my workshop."

Linebeck held up what looked like some kind of screw. "I revisited the place you dragged yourself out of," he explained. "I had Bellum help me retrace my steps, and then we managed to track the hole you dragged yourself from. We found this screw, along with many other parts like in the hole. I'll more of it out later, but have you ever seen this? It's the same material as the endoskeleton inside you- a Sheikah design. I've tried to wear it down, to cut a piece off, and it's virtually indestructible."

Link held his hand out, and Linebeck dropped the lightweight screw into his palm. Link expected it close to his face. "I feel like I've seen it before. It's a Sheikah design?"

"Yeah. I've seen it before, around the castle."

Link nodded, then handed the screw back. Linebeck returned it to a pile of similar parts on the table. "There's a castle in the city?"

"Yeah, the old Hyrule Castle. It somehow survived whatever wiped out Hyrule 200 years ago and has all kinds of old Sheikah tech and guards around it. The moat is... less than clean, but the water in the rest of the city has been proven to be clean. Citizens aren't allowed in the castle unless Zelda gives them specific permission."

"That's kinda cool," Link mumbled. "Can you tell me more about your... aphenphosmphobia? Did I say that right?"

Linebeck nodded. "Yeah."

"Cool. Do you react differently to different touches?"

"My reaction changes depending on many things." Linebeck idly sorted the pile of parts into smaller piles. "I reacted to badly to you grabbing my wrist because it was an aggressive movement- I was scared that you were going to hurt me. Aggressive movements and touches like that are the worst. Skin to skin, my robotic parts included, is second worst. It makes my skin crawl and my heart race, and my mind screams at me to get away from what was scaring me. I can handle touch through cloth for a few moments. When Bellum mentioned Ghirahim causing a panic attack through falling against me- repeated touches and the more touch at a time causes more and more fear. I don't know what caused it, but I've got it bad."

"What can cause aphenphosmphobia?"

"Most commonly experiences of physical abuse or sexual assault can cause this fear. Other times it can just be learned from seeing others being scared of touch. But the former two are the most common causes, and, in my case, I dearly hope that my cause isn't the latter of those two." Linebeck held up a different part, considering it, then glanced up at Link. "You don't have any information about phobias?"

"...Nope," was his unsure answer. "I know a few that most people know, but not any rare ones that like. I don't know everything, but a little more than an average human would know." Link raked his messy hair back, as if the movement would offer more insight into his own knowledge. He sighed. "I'll go. I want to read some of the books in my room... why'd you put those books in?"

"Might as well give you something to read," Linebeck drawled, pushing up the sleeve of his left arm and collecting some small tools. "I'd appreciated if you leave, though. I've got some repairs and adjustments to make. Scram."

Link gently shut the door behind him. Ghirahim was lingering at the end of the hall and shot Link a surprisingly venomous glare. "What?!" Link cried. Ghirahim only scoffed and turned away.

Little about the group had changed over the past few days, but Ghirahim seemed hostile towards him at odd times. Link had a hard time piecing together any kind of pattern. It just seemed like the demon guy hated him. Midna, on the other hand, just seemed antsy to get back to the city whenever Linebeck mentioned their trip. This trio was odd, but Link was sure he could adapt.

* * *

"...five miles...?"

"Yeah," Midna replied, stretching her legs beside him. "We're lucky it rained recently. It usually takes just over an hour to reach the city by walking. But that's how long it takes me. What about you, Ghirahim?"

Ghirahim grunted. "Little more. That's part of the reason I cut up my clothes," he said, gesturing to the diamond-shaped holes in his stained clothing. "...But I'm lucky my boots have held up. We all know Linebeck never goes alone, but I bet we could as that little pest of his how long it takes. We could ask Bellum, too."

Link scowled. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't. I just find you a bother, a blemish in the tale of my life."

"What have I done to you? You were so nice when you showed me around the house?"

"Simple manners. I am above being friends with a grimy little bot like you."

Link pouted, rubbing at his synthetic skin. "I think Linebeck cleaned me up well enough..." He sighed, glancing over his shoulder, watching Linebeck slam the door to the building. "Careful, you might bring the whole building down."

Linebeck scoffed. "It's a shithole, but it's survived. Let's get going. The earliest we get there, the more moonlight we have. Night owls better stay out of the way..." He held up a decent-looking knife, then slid it into a small scabbard on his belt.

"You are a night owl," Midna humorously responded. "But, still. I'll let you know if I see anyone. It's worse at night because there's a better chance of muggings. Let's get going through. Please. Can we stay for a few days, too? I've got some stuff I want to get done."

"Sure," Linebeck mumbled, walking past the group. It took the rest of them a few moments to realize that he was already on his way to the city, and they caught up with him.

Midna brought with her one of her spears, and Ghirahim had a saber of some sort at his hip. Link had yet to see monsters, and he had no wish to, but the knowledge that he was among people who were armed and knew what to do calmed his nerves. Besides- they figured out that he did have fighting skills programmed into him.

They strode across the dead grass, and Link peered down at the dirt while they walked. Most of the dirt he walked over was loose and dusty, but some patches, with more grass, were more tightly packed. Two hundred years and the land was still recovering. That made sense, he supposed.

Linebeck walked at the head of the group, Ghirahim close behind. Midna lingered back with Link. They didn't speak, so it gave Link a chance to look at the land more. By then, their home was far behind them. Link squinted at the horizon to the west. He pointed at some black dots in the distance. "Is that a town or something? Those look like buildings."

"That's one of the villages," Midna murmured. "We're not going to pass through any on the way to the city. The junkyard only has the city. More people live on the outskirts of the world, too. We're some of the closest humans to the city."

"Who lives at the edge?" Link asked, finding himself distracted by a grove of surprisingly green trees.

"The Rito, Zora, Goron, and Gerudo cities, and a number of Hylian villages. There are a few snowy mountains and forests at the edge, too, untouched by the event two-hundred years ago."

"What about those trees?" Link asked, pointing at the grove.

Midna shrugged. "Some plants are recovering faster than others. The soil they grow from determines a lot. But the sparse rainfall causes many problems- some plants have adapted to having less water, however. Desert plants have certainly survived the best." She smiled at Link. "Hyrule's been through some shit, but it's surviving."

Link smiled weakly and went silent. The heat was bad, but it wasn't taking a toll on their stamina. Midna and Ghirahim regularly went to the city; their clothing represented that. Link could regulate his own temperature from inside. Linebeck was the group's biggest concern, regularly wearing a coat over a dress shirt and vest in addition to a scarf. Once they had been walking for twenty minutes, Link expected Linebeck to at least take off his scarf, but he seemed undaunted by the heat.

Curious, he jogged past Ghirahim, ignoring the glare thrown at him, and walked adjacent to Linebeck. Bellum was floating after him and made no effort to even glance at Link. Link cleared his throat. "It's around 82 degrees, getting colder as it gets later. You... might collapse from the heat if you stay in a coat and all that."

Linebeck shook his head, holding a hand over his eyes and glancing at the setting sun. "I'll be fine. Like you said, it's cooling down. I can handle the heat for a bit. Besides, if it really was a need for concern, then Bellum would let me know. He keeps track of my health and stuff for me since I generally ignore all that shit." He held out his hand, waving his fingers at Bellum. "I probably have died by now if not for him."

"We're here too!" Ghirahim indignantly shouted. "We keep you safe whenever we go to the city. We're the best bodyguards you could possibly want... the dynamic duo of my raw strength and finesse, and Midna's agility and quick wit..."

Linebeck haughtily regarded Ghirahim over his shoulder. "Mhm. Just avoid the bars. Dunno what started that habit, but it sucks."

"Hah! I only put that habit into motion when celebrating."

"And when you lose or get a dent in your ego," Midna added.

Linebeck turned around to face Ghirahim, walking backwards. "Look, I appreciate the pair of you, Link kinda included but it's only been a week, and I'm willing to tolerate your bad habits at any time. It's getting late, so let's not start any arguments. We'll do the best if we can get along. When we get to the city, we can rent a room near the castle for a few days so I can check out some ruins and we can show Link around the place. In general, we all like the city, so staying passive will make things better."

The group went silent, and Link couldn't help but notice that the tension between the humans had loosened. They seemed to be at each other's necks rather often but could resolve any issues if they needed. Link strayed to the back again. It was getting dark, and they were close to the split between the junkyard and the rest of Hyrule.

The break between the junkyard and the rest was surprisingly obvious. While the non-junkyard part was akin to a large, rolling plains, the junkyard was at least five feet higher than it. They stopped at the wall of junk, and Link gawked at the clean difference. "H-how... Is this even possible normally?"

Linebeck shrugged. He kicked at the rusted metal. A short beam fell out and clattered on the dirt. "We'll climb up quickly." He found a foothold and hoisted himself up in one swift movement. Ghirahim and Midna mimicked him, and it took Link a bit longer than them with his shorter height.

The junkyard was generally warmer, and Link grimaced upon getting a good look at the junkyard ground. Sharp and jagged metal and debris all the way to the city. "We have to walk through this?" he asked, clearly bewildered.

Ghirahim scoffed. "How else will we get there. Don't worry... Midna and I took the liberty of reinforcing all of our boots. The bottoms are made of rubber covered in metal. Good for durability and kicking attackers. On another note, we've got some old armor in Linebeck's workshop that we usually use for city visits." He held up his hands, showing off leather gloved with metal fitted on like gauntlets. "This is an example of some stuff we've made for trips like this. When we go later at night we have the threat of stalmonsters, but the closer we get to the city, the safer we become."

Midna nodded and continued off where Ghirahim stopped. "A group of various people regularly volunteers to act as a guard unit at night, watching over the outskirts of the city. Despite this, they still have a hard time stopping any kind of rebel action."

They trotted over the dangerous terrain with ease while Link frequently had to look down for anything reaching out to tear at his skin. "There are rebels?" Link asked, now peering at the city with mild unease.

"Yeah, an elusive group of people who refer to themselves as the Yiga Rebellion. They take their name from a long-dead clan of murderers who wanted the Sheikah dead, but these rebels just seem to cause havoc before returning to the shadows." Midna sighed, pointing at one of the taller buildings in the looming city. "See that tall place?"

"Yeah."

"It maps out the whole city and regularly updates the maps scattered about. The Yiga Rebellion seem hell-bent on bringing it down along with the government."

"We've been mugged by them a few times." Linebeck sounded tired, rubbing at his robotic arm. "They're not the biggest problem if you're not very important. We'll find a room to stay in, and then we'll split up until dawn. Got it?"

"Got it!"

The dim lights of the city grew brighter as the group neared the gates, and Link could estimate it to be near ten at night when they entered the city. Lights poured out into the streets from windows high up in buildings. The entrance square was empty, lamps and surrounding buildings casting light on the large fountain that had instantly entrapped Link's attention.

It took up at least a third of the circular area. Water gently pours from what looked to be a marble dragon's mouth, like it was fire. It streamed out and dripped down its spotless scales, wings extended out to the edges of the fountain. The water gathered where it stood and seemed to feed into a number of tubes- recycled water. Many rupees glittered in the water, gleaming in the dim light.

In front of the dragon was a trio of women, the other source of pouring water. They all held up colored vases, water flooding out and splashing at their feet. They each looked distinctly different. The one on the right was the tallest, with long hair tied back in a long ponytail, wearing a set of practical and beautiful armor, a short sword sheathed at her hip. In the middle was a shorter woman in a casual tunic, like a farmer's garb. Her hair was set in a braid down her back, and a quiver full of arrows was clipped to her belt. The last was of average height, her hair cut short. A gorgeous gown flowed off her body, and rather than a weapon, she had a book and a small pouch at her waist.

Link gaped for a moment longer, then pointed stiffly at the fountain. "...Who are those women supposed to be?"

"An artist's rendition of the three goddesses in Hylian form," Ghirahim drawled. "The dragon is probably just decorative. You should see the sketches Linebeck has drawn of it, though. I'll show it to you later tonight if you'd wish, but we need a room first. Linebeck! Where are we stayin?"

"Dunno, just the first place we find. It's pretty cheap out near the entrance..." Linebeck winced and rubbed his arm again. "You two can lead the way. Just find a good place." He waved his hand in the direction of the branching streets.

The streets of the city were wide and often branched off to other roads and alleyways, and Link hated it in the darkness. A few people were found wandering at night and ignored Link and his friends. They passed closed stores, facilities, homes, a few labs, schools, and restaurants, and even a garden. Lamps giving off a faint orange glow lit their path. No matter where they turned, Link could still spy the top of the castle in the distance. Ghirahim kicked over a number of trashcans when he could, no one bothering to yell at him for it.

A few rats, birds, and even stray cats were in their path, but only made a noise and ran. Linebeck frequently grimaced, rubbing at his prosthetics, but neither Midna nor Ghirahim seemed to notice. Link jogged up to stand near him, careful not to brush up against his shoulder. "...Are you okay?"

"Phantom pains," Linebeck muttered. "They come and go, and whenever they start, they just go on for about an hour, flashes of agony..." He laughed weakly. "These phantom pains are the only reason we know that I actually had limbs to lose. They're both very clean cuts, like the limbs were severed right where they met with the rest of my body. I'll show you later..." He glanced around and pointed to a building with its lights still on. "That place is cheap. We'll get a room there."

It turns out that the place Linebeck pointed out offered rooms for three for thirty rupees. They had clearly neglected to let Link know that this hotel didn't offer four-bed rooms. Link made himself a makeshift bed on the ground after Linebeck and Midna refused to let him use their beds, even though they wouldn't be in them that night.

The room was warm with a pair of lamps on either side of the room. They offloaded their stuff for the night, and Ghirahim and Link were left alone as the other two left to explore the ruins.

Link pulled aside the blinds over the window. He was greeted with the view of a park that consisted of some thriving trees and bushes. "Where are the ruins?"

"Around the castle. It's pretty dangerous down there, but Linebeck's could care less and Midna is careful. She and I take turns taking care of him. He's about 20 years old, while I'm 24 and Midna is 25."

"Has Linebeck pinpointed my... uh, mental age?"

"He thinks you're about 22," Ghirahim muttered as he sorted through the pile of items. Linebeck had brought a number of notebooks, tools, and assorted other items along with the other twos' weapons and extra equipment. He withdrew his own saber and held it up. "He also tells me that you have programming of sword fighting moves. We brought along another sword. How about you show me what you can do?"


	8. In the City

A slow breeze chilled Link to his endoskeleton. It was still warm at night, the roof of the hotel having absorbed that daytime heat, but the wind was cool. The sword in his hands was lighter than he would have thought. It was a short sword made of light metal. The grip was wrapped in a thin layer of leather, the blade double-edged and thin. The scabbard was left beside the roof entrance along with the scabbard to Ghirahim's saber.

Link swung the sword around a few times, taking note of the size of the roof. "I've never actually fought in my memories, so please don't kill me." He slid into a simple stance with his feet apart and switched through a number of ways to grip his sword. Ghirahim watched with clear disdain, holding his own saber in an easy and relaxed posture. The curved blade was black, a red gem set in the hilt. "Where'd you get that?" Link asked while getting used to his weapon.

"Won it in a city fencing competition a few months back." Ghirahim swung it around a few times. "It's a good sword. I'll go easy on you and offer some tips. Linebeck would be pissed if I so much as scratched you." He fell out of his stance and rested the blade in his other hand. "Materials that he needs for you are expensive and rare."

Link nodded slowly and held out his sword in front of him in his left. "I think I can start now. Can you start by just... teaching me some basics?"

Ghirahim nodded, nearing Link. "You have a good stance, good balance, and you hold your weapon like you have experience. Now, then, the key to winning a sword fight is your reach."

Link nodded. "Reach."

"That being how long your blade is, how easily you can reach your enemy. Granted, dodging and reflexes and allow someone with a dagger to beat you, but it's a lower chance. You want to make sure your opponent's sword hits either metal or air. If they get too close, they could easily kill you." Ghirahim straightened out Link's arm so that he was holding his sword out. "This is a good estimation of your reach. This is a short sword, so it's not much."

Link nodded obediently. Ghirahim held up his own sword and pressed the blade against Link's. He backed off until he held out his sword as much as he could like Link was, the two blade tips just barely brushing. They were like statues for a moment, motionless in the moonlight. A few birds flew overhead. Lights in other buildings flickered on and off.

And Ghirahim lunged at Link with his sword aimed at his chest.

* * *

Linebeck hopped over a hole in the ground, sticking his tongue out at it over his shoulder. "You'd think Zelda and the Sheikah would want stuff like this filled in."

Midna shrugged. "This is a more Yiga-infested district, remember?" She held her arms out to the tall buildings they passed. "Why'd we come through here, anyways?"

"The more abandoned places will usually have more discarded parts and robots. This is a quick route to the ruins, anyways." Linebeck rummaged through the bag he brought and pulled out a cylindrical item, clicking a switch on it. A beam of bright light appeared, and he shined it down any alleyways they passed. "Not many people come down this way."

He jogged ahead a few feet, checking alleyways and rushing to the ruins. Midna sighed. She walked with her spear resting against her shoulder, but it wouldn't be useful of protecting Linebeck if he kept running away. She picked up her own pace and followed Linebeck down an alleyway that caught his attention. She waited from afar as he crouched over a decommissioned robot, picking it apart.

While he worked, holding his light between his teeth, Midna peered at the robot over his shoulder. "What do you think this guy was used for?"

Linebeck shrugged, pulling a wheel off of one of the robot's three feet. "Probably just a servant or something. No fingers, but it looks like it could hold plates and stuff. I bet someone threw the poor bastard out since it was screwing up or something." He tugged an arm off and haphazardly started ripping wires and small mechanisms out. "Keep any eye out for anyone. What would you assume Ghirahim is doing with Link?"

"I left him with the idea of testing Link's fighting capabilities," Midne uttered. She glanced over her shoulder, looking for any signs of wandering night owls. "I also wanted to have him test the little bot on his mythological knowledge."

Linebeck nodded, now whistling a jaunty tune to himself. He stuffed the scraps into his bag and hopped to his feet. "Shut it. They'll be useful somehow."

Midna shoved away her urge to respond. His quieter tone suggested that he was talking with Bellum. It was difficult for her and Ghirahim to figure out whether or not Bellum was talking, but Ghirahim seemed to have an innate sense of whenever Bellum spoke- hence how he knew that Bellum had spoken about one of his drunken mishaps on the day that Linebeck tested Link. That had always been something Midna had been envious of- Ghirahim's heightened senses.

She pursed her lips, watching as Linebeck walked past her. He was still whistling to himself. She jogged past him as he reentered onto the street. "What kind of demon do you think Ghirahim is?"

"Ah, shit, there are different kinds. The monster kind. Some stronger, less material kinds. Some more humanlike ones, those being some of the more powerful ones, connected right to the root of the evil in this world. I mean, there are a few more vague types, like ghosts, sword spirits, and general magic that inhabits some nonliving items." Linebeck waved his hand dismissively. "I've done my research. He's too human to be most of those. There's little to nothing on sword spirits, and no one knows what the limit of ghost and inhabitant demons are. But I could care less about learning about that. He can figure this all out himself."

Midna scowled. "And what about me? We've never seen anything like me, and you have yet to find anything in any libraries."

"Also, your own problem. I have other things to worry about for now, what with Link and his whole mystery."

"You're prioritizing a robot?" Midna sighed. The moonlight was momentarily blocked by a few taller buildings. As they neared the castle, the tall spires and walls illuminated by strange lanterns, it got steadily warmer. "I knew your priorities were weird, but, for Hylia's sake, at least make time for the rest of us."

Linebeck scoffed. "Whatever. You make it sound like I only care about him. He's useful for research and that's about it. Hm. We'll need to check around the coliseum, too. I heard some new rumors about a new tournament coming up, and I'm thinking it'll be worth checking out." He hopped down the stairs leading into the castle square- an empty area around the perimeter of the castle. "I'll pick up some scraps and we can check out the coliseum fliers."

"Fine," Midna muttered.

* * *

Link was surprised by his inherent reflexes and swordsmanship. His limbs seemed to move on their own- joints bending and moving and wrists flicking in time to parry and block all of Ghirahim's vicious attacks. His feet dug into the ground to keep himself from being pushed back, and he strafed and hopped around to look for a better angle or dodge. He moved without thinking, his programming flooding and controlling his thoughts and movements.

Ghirahim had a gleeful grin as he dashed and lunged at Link, his blade clanging against Link's. He moved just as fast as Link, albeit doing more attacking. He parried all of Link's feeble attacks, but Link soon learned to copy what Ghirahim did. Instead of timidly backing off, he thrust his sword at Ghirahim, forcing him to shy off. His copied Ghirahim's near-savage attacks and threw in some of his own flair.

It was like muscle memory. The nighttime seemed to fade around them as they fought and sparred. Link vaguely felt a mixed sense of nostalgia and Deja-vu as he executed attacks, parries, blocks, every kind of movement with a sword. Ghirahim's haughty arrogance dissolved into a caution as he backed off.

If Link was organic, he knew his muscles would be aching and sweat would be pouring down his brow as the fight with Ghirahim dragged on. After what Link could estimate to be ten minutes, Ghirahim pushed away from him with an impressive amount of force. "That's enough for tonight," he declared between gasps for breath. "You've certainly got quite a bit of skill. You're lucky I went easy on you either way, however. Put your sword away. Midna wanted me to test how much you know about the Goddesses."

"Like Din, Farore, and Nayru?" Link asked, lowering his sword.

Ghirahim grunted. "At least you know their names. Tell me everything you know on the way back to our rooms. We'll get in trouble if we stay out here too long." He gathered up their scabbards, sheathing their respective swords before leading Link back into the building.

The stairwell connecting each of the five floors was cramped, lit up by occasional lamps. They were small and cast a dim, yellow light, moths and assorted flying bugs hovering around the bulbs. From his currently limited experience, the technology of the city piqued Link's curiosity. It all seemed so familiar and yet so foreign. Perhaps a sign that he had seen stuff like this before his memory was wiped. He turned to Ghirahim. "Do you think I was created before Hyrule was originally destroyed?"

Ghirahim shrugged. "I'm not sure," he muttered. "For one thing, it seems very plausibly since you're made of a very durable material and the ruins are in good shape, too. On the other hand... two hundred years. I'm surprised your programming and software weren't fried by the heat and elements. I'm skeptical. Linebeck's hardly been wrong at time, but his imagination and occasion delusions can influence his thinking. Midna's more believing, but I think that stems from her general desire to figure out who she is, and she sees you as a chance to unlock some lost knowledge."

Link nodded. He pushed open the door to their room once reaching it, standing aside as Ghirahim walked in. The swords were dumped back on the table, and Ghirahim collapsed on his bed. Link watched him for a moment. "Should I tell you what I know about the Goddesses?"

"That's what I said."

Link nodded, wringing his hands. "Right. Sorry. So, I know that there's four different Goddesses: Hylia, Din, Nayru, and Farore. Hylia created Hyrule before disappearing, Din is the goddess of power, Nayru is the goddess of wisdom, Farore is the goddess of courage, and the latter three govern the Triforce. Those are the basics, so there really isn't much else to say." Link pushed aside a few of their things on the table, finding a book without a visible title.

"Yeah, that really is all that there is," Ghirahim muttered. He sat up, spotting the book. "Oh. That's Linebeck's sketchbook. He draws robots and stuff in there." Link opened it up and was greeted with detailed doodles and sketched of robots and their respective parts. Link smiled faintly. A number of the robots were humanlike, but a few were modeled around Gorons, Rito, and Zora. Smaller robots had fewer humanoid designs, more like four-legged animals or just designs that allowed them to do what they needed.

"Do you and Midna like robots like he does, too?"

"Well, yeah." Ghirahim sat up, supporting himself with his elbows. "He's into building them and stuff, but the two of us more prefer just seeing them. You're cool. AI are interesting, too."

Link nodded, gently returning the book. "Have you ever seen AI like Bellum?"

Ghirahim shook his head. "Nothing like him. Some robots have their own intelligence, but nothing near to what Bellum has. None are confined to some person or specific people like Bellum is." He smiled devilishly. "Y'know, I can actually... 'sense' Bellum. I can get an idea of when he speaks, but that's all. You and Linebeck are the only ones who can actually see or hear him. It's one of the group's other mysteries- We don't know how Bellum works and stuff."

"Lots of mysteries..." Link mused. "What does everyone know about the Yiga? What does Zelda and the Sheikah do about it?"

"Dunno. The Yiga and the Sheikah hate each other- that's a given. The Sheikah have served royalty since, well, forever, but they will go against direct orders to hunt down the Yiga. The Yiga want to bring down the government and cause anarchy, but it's pretty vague. It's getting late." Ghirahim reclined on his bed, scowling up at the ceiling. "You can ponder it to yourself while I sleep."

Link sighed. He pulled the desk chair out and collapsed onto it.

* * *

Linebeck hopped down into the ditch, wading through the loose parts. Midna crouched at the edge, not daring to join him in the darkness. Since they were so close to the castle now, the shadows of Sheikah guards hovering miles away on the spires. The bright lamps on the roadside that circled the castle walls did little to brighten the ditch filled with parts and ruins. Careful, Midna twirled the spear in her hands, keeping any eye out for anyone that passed.

Linebeck dug through the ruins, pushing aside old, weathered stone and reaching for more robotic parts. He shone his light at the rubbish, kicking some of it aside. The ruins were ruins of the cold castle town. Most were confined to the inside the of the castle walls, accessible only by those with access into the castle, while the rest was left outside. He gathered screws and springs like the ones he found around Link's origin spot. He usually ignored them in the past since they looked like nothing he'd seen before, but now, knowing their probable connection to Link and the past, Linebeck found them much more interesting. A sharp strip of metal ripped through his right pants leg, but only scraped up against the metal leg.

Midna disdainfully watched him gather up random parts, hearing him mutter to Bellum. Someone could sneak up behind him and stab him through the gut and he'd be none the wiser until he died. On one of his first late-night visits to the ruins, a Yiga rebel had attacked him with a sickle. They decided to have someone go with him after he lost quite a bit of blood running to rejoin the group that first time. Midna regularly volunteered in the hopes that Linebeck might find something to help her learn what she was, but he never did.

"Whatcha lookin' for?" she shouted down at him. "Anything in particular, or just random garbage?"

"Both," Linebeck responded. "Just picking up whatever catches mine and Bellum's eyes." He bent down and picked up a strange, circular object and stuffed it into his bag. He dug deeper in that pile, up against a fallen stone tower, and withdrew other objects similar to the first. "Holy shit I hit a jackpot!"

Midna growled to herself and stood up. Bored, she inspected her steel spear. It had seen a few battles, fighting off the skeletal stalmonsters. The long range and her excellent aim made it easy to nail them in the head and get rid of them. Nearby, a trashcan toppled over, and she whipped around to watch it roll away. The garbage inside spilled out. Midna squinted at the darkness. She and the rest of the group had slowly realized that she could see in the dark like a cat could, so she was the best for nighttime vigilance.

Skeptical, Midna stalked over to the trashcan, peering into the alleyway between the abandoned building and the ceramics shop. A cat was grooming itself next to a second can. The culprit, perhaps. The wind picked up for a moment, rustling Midna's hair, and she felt a chill down her spine.

"Midnaaaaaaaa!"

Midna whipped around and sprinted back to the ditch. Linebeck stumbled back through the parts, fumbling for his knife as a Yiga rebel bore down on him. All members of the Yiga rebellion wore a simple mask- white, with an upside-down Sheikah symbol- the eye with the single tear. Often, they wore dark cloaks and an assortment of red-dyed clothing. There was no uniform, but they all had the same brand of weapons, and this one had a long katana.

Linebeck got his knife up in time to ward off a blow and managed to cut away at the cloak with a razor. Two of his prosthetic fingers switched around, one a razor and the other a small lighter. The dual uses were surprisingly helpful in life-or-death situations. He staggered back, looking blindly for sturdy ground. Minda sprinted over and leaped into the ditch. The Yiga just barely dodged the thrust of her spear.

The Yiga lifted his sword over his head, planning to swing down at Midna. She jabbed at his abdomen and he flinched back. He swung his sword down at her, the blade slipping off the metal shaft of the spear but leaving a small scratch. He was too close now- all Midna found she could do was block his attacks with the spear shaft. When he withdrew to prepare a more powerful attack, Midna planted her foot in his stomach, the kick sending him stumbling back and groaning.

Linebeck leapt at the Yiga when he drew close, sinking his knife blade into his shoulder. The Yiga screamed and disappeared in a whirlwind of paper talismans. Linebeck snatched one of the talismans out of the air and added it to his bag with a huff. He bent over and dug through the parts for his little light. "Annoying bastards," he hissed. "Jumping out of nowhere. Thanks."

"No problem," Midna murmured. "How about we head back? I don't want to get attacked again."

Midna and Linebeck exited the ditch, and she said nothing about the spotty bloodstains around his knee. He murmured under his breath again, sounding indignant. Bellum was probably making fun of him for getting caught off guard. Midna sighed as he strode off back into the city as if nothing had happened. Too carefree. She scowled. Either he underestimated danger, or simply didn't care about his well-being.

They passed by a few empty buildings before Midna glanced over her shoulder. The Sheikah warriors were still on the parapets, silhouetted by the rising moon. They hadn't done anything to stop the Yiga from attacking them. They only watched. She scowled. They were usually hailed as the 'protectors of the city'. Midna jogged up to match Linebeck's pace. "C'mon. The coliseum is this way, remember?"

* * *

Link frowned at the flier. He took it from Linebeck's hand, squinting at it. "What's this?"

"An advertisement, we found it at the coliseum," Linebeck explained. "There are monthly fighting tournaments there, either between humans, robots, or both. This is a pretty big one coming up next week."

Link scowled. The flier was to advertise the tournament next week, a robot versus robot brawl of sorts. The listed reward was a promised sum of money (the amount was noted to be determined by the winner's performance). "Seriously?"

Ghirahim scoffed, pulling aside the curtains to let the warm morning sunlight in. "Yes, seriously. We're more or less broke, and we need a good way to test your skills. Besides, Linebeck probably would enter you one way or another." He peered out the window. "Looks like a bunch of people have noticed the fliers, too. I see a few new ones on the wall down there."

Midna sighed. She reached over Link's shoulder and pointed at second reward listed. "This is why I wanted to tell you about this." The second reward was a potential audience with Zelda, to exhibit the robot's capabilities.

Link blinked. "What if you guys lose me? Like, if I'm broken or taken by Zelda."

Linebeck raised an eyebrow. "Simple. Don't talk. Don't act like you have much of a consciousness. We can have you practice over the weekend. You just need to be a skilled, fluid fighter. No emotions, no thoughts. If you act that way, you won't catch as much attention. You'll just be a really well-built robot."

"You're just using me to make money," Link muttered, tossing the flier on the desk.

"Cool it," Ghirahim snapped. "Don't worry. If it was a human fighting competition, I'd be in there in a heartbeat. You're overthinking it. We'll spend the next week to make sure you survive just fine."

Linebeck smiled to himself, snatching up the flier from off the desk and looking it over once more. "Until then, we can find some stuff in the city and leave at noon." He folded the flier up with a faint smile. "Until then, I recommend that you act as human as possible, Link. You already look the part. If someone figures out that you're a robot, they'll try and take you."

He slid off the table where he was sitting. "I didn't get much time to look at the stuff I found last night, so that can wait. I'll meet you all outside." With that, he left the inn room, shutting the door behind him.

Midna frowned. "He's in a good mood."

Ghirahim laughed. "He just found a great opportunity to make money, of course he's happy!" He yawned and got to tidying up the bed he slept in. "Let's take everything and get going. Link, you take the swords."

Link held the sword gathered in his arms, Midna had her spear and her own bag, and Ghirahim had nothing. Both of them glared at the back of his head as they followed him down the stairs. The innkeeper was sleeping at his desk, so they slipped out the front door, hoping that Linebeck paid the poor guy despite knowing that he most certainly didn't. He waited for them outside, idly watching people walk by and lighting a cigarette. Bellum floated out more, phasing through the head of people who walked by.

The group better organized their items in the warm sunlight before moving. Linebeck showed Link how to clip his sword to his belt, and Ghirahim acted as an example with his own sword. Bags were passed out; Linebeck kept his own, Midna took the bag of fliers and potions, Ghirahim and Link got the two empty bags. They organized themselves into a single-file line, Midna at the front, Ghirahim at the back, Linebeck and Link in the middle and avoiding any sort of contact. They joined the running river of people and followed the flow until they found a good place to stop.

"So many people live here!" Link exclaimed. Linebeck grunted, hugging himself. All kinds of people surged past. Hylians of all sorts of colors and heights, ones with dyed hair catching his eye. Tall, feathered Ritos made their way past, looking much more like a bird than Link had first assume, with an assortment of feather colors and beak shapes. Scaled and fishlike Zora were mixed among tall Gerudo women, and any Goron that passed by left a wide pathway that was quickly filled back in. It was more diversity that Link could recall having seen out in the wasteland and decided that it was a miracle that he wasn't overwhelmed.

He fought the urge to cling to the sleeve of Linebeck's coat. The fear of getting washed away, swept up in the torrent of people and separated from the people he'd known for a week, swamped his mind. But he made himself stop. Link's own fear would be inferior to Linebeck's if he touched him.

The tall buildings on either side were made of wood, bricks, and metal. Windows dotted the sides, people peering down or sitting by. Signs sat above lamps to make themselves visible, and street vendors shouted about their wares. As the group turned a corner to less crowded street, Link spotted a young Zora holding up a wad of paper, yelling something. Link vaguely recalled that the wad of paper was a 'newspaper'. The Zora loudly advertised that the price was only five rupees, and Link unconsciously searched though his pockets.

Much to his luck, Midna peeled away from the group and bought one, slipping it into her bag for later.

Link was given an unofficial tour of the city until noon. The group showed him to a coffee shop that they frequented, where Midna and Linebeck each got something to keep them awake until returning home (They hadn't slept the night before). They rested at a small square with a fountain, and Link watched a trio of Rito children chase each other around. Ghirahim gave Link a short lecture on how most people lived in the city while others stayed in their races' origin towns. Link zoned out after realizing he had similar information in the back of his mind.

They spent the early morning wandering through the emptier streets, checking out vendors and informing Link that vendors often had rotating stock. Inns got better in quality the closer to the castle you got. Graffiti was common in alleyways and on abandoned buildings. Street musicians showed up after noon. Later at night was when the Yiga operated. The busiest times of day were from noon to five in the afternoon. Link took in more information than he had prior to visiting the city and managed it well enough.

They walked along a bridge over a small lake in the eastern district of the city. The water was clear and beautifully reflected the clouds above. All types of flowers and herbs grew on the railings and a few birds landed and pecked at the stone ground. "What's this called?" Link asked, leaning over with his elbows on a clean patch of dirt.

"They say it used to be called Lake Hylia," Midna explained. "But with the weather and stuff, it's shrunk. Not really a lake anymore. Glorified pond is what we like to call it." She plucked a flower from the array at Link's side. It was white with blue highlights and seemed to glow ever so slightly. She handed it to Link.

Link stared down at it. "What do I do with this?"

"Whatever you want."

Midna walked off, joining the other half of the group. Link frowned at the flower and held it over the lake. He let it slip from his hands and watched it fall into the water. As ripples flowed out when the flower landed, a small voice in Link's head reminded him that it was a 'Silent Princess'. He sighed and watched it on the surface on the lake. A fish swam up and pulled it under, out of sight.

* * *

Link straightened the stack of books, tuning out the human trio's arguing. They'd been arguing since returning from the city, putting a damper on Link's joy about having seen so much. The books they had picked up at the city's library all looked interesting, but he could check them out once the others were done.

The arguing rose to a shout, and Link sighed. He left the books where they were and hid off in his room. He removed his socks and boots, setting them in a corner, then withdrew a notebook from the desk drawer. The sword Ghirahim had lent him was now his to own, and he planned to make a wall-mount for it at some point. Or, at least, with Linebeck's help.

Link flipped down the notebook, picking up the pencil on the other side of the desk. From what he'd seen in Linebeck's notebooks, on the city walls with graffiti, even on the cover of books, he had a good idea of what good artistic talent looked like. He drew a trio of lines on one page, each at different angles and areas on the paper. Start lines of a sort.

He doodled for the next hour. He let his hand move without paying much attention to it. Link saw it as a test of sorts; what would he draw if he paid little attention to the process? He was a robot, after all. He was much different than a living being. He had different traits than organisms, both good and bad. Link had seen Linebeck sketching him a few times; he'd seen his frustration and constant erasing when finding the littlest mistake. Robots made less mistakes than humans.

Link drew for an estimated ten minutes, his friends' argument ending around the five-minute mark. He dropped the pencil and let out a sigh before his head tilted back down. He stared at the drawing for a moment, not really looking at it. The first thing he noticed was the subject- he had drawn the magnificent fountain at the entrance of the city. They had passed it on the way out, and Ghirahim had tossed a green rupee into the water.

The second thing he noticed were all the mistakes. One dragon's wing was just a bit smaller than the other, the water... didn't look like water. So many errors. And yet it looked fine. Link let out a short laugh. It seemed robots could make mistakes, too. He shut the book and slid it back in the drawer. His creator must've so desperately wanted him to be like a human that they programmed errors and mistakes into his software. So odd.

A quick question crossed his mind. What if he was mean to be a replacement? What if his creator had lost someone dear to them, so, out of grief, they made a replacement that was so painfully like a human? Or, perhaps, a companion to someone who was lonely? Maybe a simple experiment? A test of his creator's skills?

So many possibilities. Link needed to make a list of them at some point.


	9. Time Alone

Being awake while his chest cavity was wide open was a strange experience for Link. He'd been called to Linebeck's workshop a day after returning from the city, and informed that the engineer would be doing some work on him to optimize his reflexes and defensive capabilities. Somehow. A few times when he woke up, his chest cavity was wide open, providing a strange, cold sensation. It was like pins and needles, a tickling sensation being added on whenever Linebeck did some work in that part.

The next time Link was jostled awake, Ghirahim and Midna were in the room with Linebeck. Something bumping up against the table was what woke him. "It might be worth checking that place again. I'm not really finding anything new in the ruins."

"It would be a good idea to avoid the ruins, anyways," Midna muttered. "We got attacked by a Yiga last time, and those damn Sheikah did nothing but watch."

Link peered up at the ceiling. He was laying on his back, numb once again. Something bumped the table again. Ghirahim's voice was tense. "You guys got attacked?"

"Yeah, I had to fight them off,"

"Did he hurt you?!"

"No, I'm fine, back off. Too close. Midna drove him off."

"This keeps happening! I should come with you next time you go to the ruins. Those bastards wouldn't dare-"

"We might as all go together," Midna snapped. "We can do that next time and bring Link. For now, we need to focus on the tournament. How're things coming alone with him?"

Linebeck grunted. "It's fine. There's not much I can add, there are so many things keeping me from tampering with his programming. The best I can do is oil up his joints and reinforce his parts." he picked something up and set it on the table with Link. "Ah, shit. He's awake. You guys can leave. I've got some more I need to do before we can head back to the city."

Midna and Ghirahim left the room, and Linebeck tugged LInk into a sitting position. "Sorry about any paralysis you might be feeling. I'll try and keep from making you freeze, but, for now, it's to keep things stable."

Link tried to nod but figured that he couldn't.

"Just go to sleep for now."

Good idea.

When he next woke, he was alone. A note was on the table opposite him. He could feel his limbs again, tensing slightly. Link leaned forward and snatched up the note, opening it with one fluid movement. It was Linebeck's handwriting, nearly illegible. _Went to city with the others. Should be back around midnight. Don't cause problems. _

'Don't cause problems'? When had Link ever caused problems? He tossed the paper away and slid off the table. He was undressed as he usually was for repairs, so he left to his room to find some clothes. Over the three past days of repairs and modifications, Linebeck had offered some tips on sounding like a generic robot. Link chose just to go mute and expressionless. It seemed to be the easiest route, and most robots in the city acted as such. Most didn't even have faces.

He rushed out of the room and took advantage of his loneliness. With no one else there, he could read their library books without interruption. Link stole three of the books at random, an apple from the kitchen, and greeted Rusty in Linebeck's room. Link fed the lizard a few dead insects and gently stroke the top of its head, setting the books to the side. The bed was as tidy as ever, so Link could assume that Linebeck stayed in the workshop.

The lizard curled up on a rock in the enclose and shut its eyes. Link sat down on the bed and opened the smallest book- it turned out to be about the anatomy of all creatures known to be in Hyrule. Linebeck probably picked it out. There had been a few small creations lined up on the tables when Link woke back up. Probably smaller machines that would be sold at some point. A few times, while awake, Link had seen Linebeck cursing about his phantom pains. They seemed more frequent than he let on.

Link flipped through the book, growing more and more bored with every page. Eventually, he tossed it aside, swapping it out for another. The next was a list of plants in the wasteland, a much smaller book. He tossed that one away as well. The last was a storybook. Link frowned at it. It had a picture of the wingcrest, the emblem for the castle in the city. His best assumption was that it was the symbol of Hyrule before it was destroyed. The book had no title that he could see, so he picked it up and turned it over. Nothing.

He himself had picked this one out, curious about what it would contain. Link had found it in a corner of the library, and it was alone, with no other copy like it. He had almost looked over it since it blended in with the dark wood of the bookcase. It was dusty when he added it to their pile of books. Link brushed off some of the dust, watching it float across the room in the sunlight.

The pages were crinkled and yellowed, and Link accidently put a small rip in the first page. Along with the reporting of the time and temperature, a small voice let Link know that the book was perhaps around a few decades old.

Link had been able to learn the ages of items before, a fairly new skill, hiving done it involuntarily the first time. He couldn't do it with living beings, he could only tell the age of materials he came across. He seemed a fair bit away from discovering the limit of what he could do. He set the book out on the bed, opening it to the table of contents.

It had about ten chapters, the listed page numbers suggesting that each chapter was around 100 pages each. He found a notepad in Linebeck's drawers and set it out with a pencil, for note-taking purposes. The first chapter was titled 'Between Good and Evil'. Link jotted the name down and turned to the chapter.

It began with a story of how Hyrule was created- Din forming the red earth, Nayru giving law and time to the land, and Farore created the living beings to inhabit the world. For a time, things were peaceful, the world left in the hands of Hylia while the three goddesses protected the Triforce. The peace was shattered when Demise and his demon army invaded, and Hylia sent the Hylians away for a time until the first hero and first princess made the world safe again.

In between the storytelling, there were general one-offs about the other races. The chapter ended with the creation of the first instance of the Kingdom of Hyrule. Link's wrist ached from his constant note-writing, but his clean handwriting and spacing made it worth it. Link shut the notebook and closed the library book. It was certainly worth finishing at some point.

Link left Linebeck's room quickly, noting how late it was getting. The sun was close to the horizon by now, around 7:46 p.m. Link frowned, rushing down the stairs. The reports of time and temperature were getting annoying. He needed to figure out how to tune that out.

Link wasted the rest of the time sharpening his sword and making himself some food using what was in their cold freezer. The newest addition was some meat, cleaned and cut off the bone. He ignored it in favor of fruits and some bread. He climbed up on a roof and created some sword fighting drills to pass the time, keeping an eye on the city in the distance.

He had a number of different colored tunics in his room, but Link preferred the green ones. A pair of leather gloves had been placed on top of his bed when he checked. Little armor, but his skill could make up for it in the tournament. A few birds flew overhead while he practiced a parry drill, imagining different types of monsters as his opponents. A compendium in his mind helped fabricate the behavior of moblins, bokoblins, and lizalfos. The movements of the Yiga were unfamiliar to Link.

Link sparred with his own imagination until a tap on his shoulder made him pause. He lowered his sword, peering back at Midna. "Oh. You're back." He blinked and stared up at the dark, starry sky. "Oh. It's really late."

Midna nodded. "Imagine our surprise, seeing you fighting off some kind of invisible monsters on the Rain Keep's roof. Weird stuff. Linebeck found some cool stuff in the city ruins. Those old town ruins are cool, all the different buildings and old streets. Come on inside. It's going to rain later tonight."

Link nodded and followed her back down the stairs. He hadn't brought the sword's scabbard with him, so he was careful not to bang it against anything. He returned it to its scabbard once back in the house and met up with Linebeck in the workshop. Link shut the door behind him quietly. "What's the third door in this hallway for?"

"Possible merchandise," Linebeck muttered. "None of your business. What is your business, though, is some stuff that I found. A bit risky to dig under the walls of the castle, but we found some good stuff. We were chased away by some Sheikah, though, who threatened to detain us for trespassing even though we weren't trespassing." He pushed aside some screws and springs of the strange material and tossed an item at Link.

Link nearly didn't catch it. It was made of dark material, akin to the screws and springs Linebeck had begun to collect. He held it up. It was about the length of the hilt of a sword and had a thin indention in the top. "...What's this?"

"No idea," Linebeck murmured. "Try and find a switch or something. The indention directs some kind of output, so point that somewhere that can be easily repaired if needed."

"Or we could do it outside," Bellum drawled, popping back into existence. "No need to risk the building getting damaged."

After midnight, the wasteland was cold. The temperature dipped to low sixties, as Link recorded, and he inspected the item under the light from a tool Linebeck held. Link turned it over and squinted at it. "Would there be a switch?"

"Hell if I know," Linebeck muttered. "Just keep looking."

Link heavily sighed and started scratching at the surface, keeping the indention pointing away. His plastic fingernail slipped into a tiny slot, tugged down, and a flash of neon blue light erupted from the long groove. Link yelped and dropped it to the ground, backing up into Linebeck's legs with a muted clang. The light shaped into a segmented single-edged blade, shimmering and glowing on the coarse grass.

"It's a sword, then," Linebeck breathlessly whispered. He nudged Link with his metal knee. "Go pick it up."

Link hesitated and gripped the hilt tightly. The blade burned through the nearby grass, and he dropped it again. It rolled over to some more grass but didn't cut through it. The sound of Linebeck scribbling down notes accompanied Link picking it back up. Curious, he swiped the blade through some grass, watching it cleanly cut the tips off. He thrust the blade into the ground, and it slowly sank deeper as he pushed it in. He withdrew it from the ground, and, experimentally, Link let it fall blade-first onto the ground. The blade crashed into the ground and it fell onto its side.

"So, it only cuts and burns when in someone's hand," Linebeck murmured. "What would you say the weight is?"

"Uh. It's light," Link uttered, picking it back up. "It took a bit of effort to cut into the ground. A-am I going to use this in the tournament?"

"You are now," Linebeck laughed. "We might pick up a shield on the way to the tournament. Can you use a shield?"

"...Perhaps..." Link murmured, swinging the sword around a few times. The sword made a humming noise while it sliced through the air. Linebeck has clearly backed up a few steps, in the shadow of the building, but Bellum playfully dodged the sword swipes. Link pursed his lips and held the sword out in front of himself. "Can you go find a pot lid? Something to use as a shield?"

Linebeck returned from the inside of the house with a flimsy wooden pot lid, a metal handle nailed to the top. He tossed it at Link like a frisbee, forcing to robot to duck out of self-preservation. He picked it up and squinted at it. "Don't I need a second strap?"

Linebeck scowled. The goggles were over his eyes, so Link couldn't tell, but he guesses that he rolled his eyes. "I'll add one, fine. Do some drills with the lid and sword real quick. We can use this for the tournament."

Link frowned, getting into a stance. "Can't we buy a better one?"

"Expensive," Linebeck whined.

Midna and Ghirahim joined the two of them outside in the dark, watching Link prove his sword-and-shield skills in the moonlight. They were satisfied once the robot tired himself out, and they returned to the building. Link collapsed on his bed once in his room, leaving the strange, deactivated sword on his desk. The pot lid leaned against his bed frame.

Link dreamed that night. He found himself walking through a grassy field, green and lively. Trees dotted the endless landscape. He walked slowly, grassy brushing against his legs. He wore a tunic like the one he wore now, but there was a thin layer of leather underneath. A cap of sorts was on his head. Both a sword and shield were on his back.

He didn't recognize anything in the distance. A few towns, something encased in a stone wall, people on horses or walking other paths. Four voices were distant, behind him. Non were familiar. The dream was just him walking, walking in the direction of the walled location.

He woke subtly, and Link stared at the ceiling as he wondered what that was. He hopped out of bed, noting that it was late in the morning, and left his room, going upstairs to knock on the door of Linebeck's. No response greeted him. He checked both Midna and Ghirahim's rooms, getting a groggy response from Midna and more silence from Ghirahim. The latter turned out to be downstairs, in the kitchen, making coffee. Ghirahim offered Link a mug, and the robot took it with the intention of using as tribute in case Linebeck wasn't a morning person.

His room was empty, but a few dead flies scattered the bottom of Rusty's terrarium. Link made his way back downstairs and slowly opened the door to the workshop. The engineer was passed out on the ground, Bellum slowly drifting around. "Oh, hey," the AI muttered. "He, uh, hasn't slept in a while. Leave the coffee. He'll be out for a while, but if you can't wait, take some kind of stick. Don't touch him."

Link scowled and found a metal pole in the corner of the room. He poked Linebeck with it, then paused. "Where are his prosthetics?" Link whispered. His left shirt sleeve and right pants sleeve were flat, no foot or hand. A crutch was laying on the ground near him.

"He sometimes takes them off while he works," Bellum muttered. "Usually a compulsive decision, when he gets frustrated about his phantom pains. They're in the corner over there," Bellum pointed a tentacle at the aforementioned corner. "You should collect them for him. He's an idiot, I personally don't see much reason to take them off, but he gets emotional over stupid stuff. He'll deny it, but he does."

Link sighed, and jabbed Linebeck in the ribs. His coat was on a hook by the door, his vest on the ground beneath it. His scarf was in his pocket, as it turned out. The right boot was next to the bronze limbs, as well as a glove. No reaction from the unconscious man. Bellum sighed haughtily. He muttered something under his breath; it sounded like an insult.

Link made the jabs more frequent, and experimentally whacked Linebeck in the crotch. "Not much down there to hit," Bellum loudly drawled, shattering Link's concentration. He giggled weakly and got back to trying to wake him.

"Why isn't this working?" Link hissed.

"Dunno."

Link gritted his teeth and dropped the pole, kicking Linebeck in the spine. "Wake up!" he roared. Nothing. "Any smells or anything that'll wake him?"

"Try the coffee," Bellum murmured, peering down into it. "It's the way he likes it."

"Stark black coffee?" Link asked, picking it up and sniffing it. "This guy is mental."

"You've got no idea."

Link knelt down near Linebeck's face and set the coffee down near him. He waited, then waved his hand, hoping to waft the smell down to him. "This is stupid," he muttered. Linebeck twitched, and Link held his breath. "You awake...?" he softly whispered. "I need to talk to you."

"F-fu..." Linebeck blinked his eyes open. His focused groggily on the mug just inches from his face. "Hate... you..." he rasped.

"Do you want the coffee?" Link asked, reaching for the mug.

Linebeck rolled onto his back and groaned, groping around with his arm. His hand found the crutch and he dragged it over to himself. Link picked up the mug and set it on the table while Linebeck struggled to get to a standing position. He leaned on the crutch and yawned. "Bellum?"

"Yeeeees?"

"How long was I out?"

"Few hours."

"Damn..." Linebeck glanced around and frowned. He found a chair, pushed a few feet from the table, and lowered himself into it. "I hate both of you. I need my prosthetics."

Link rushed over to the corner and gathered the limbs in his arm. It felt weird to be holding someone's body parts in his arms. He half expected them to come to life, writhing and bending and grasping at the air. "On the table?"

"Go ahead," Linebeck sighed. With his leg, he dragged himself and the chair closer to the table.

"Want any help-"

"I've dealt with this for a year," Linebeck snapped. "I got this." He leaned the crutch against the table. Bellum silently floated around his head. Linebeck turned the arm around, carefully unbuttoning his shirt and tugging the left side off of his shoulder. Aside from the pale scar, it looked as if he had never had a left arm. More curious, however, was the splotchy, white scar that tore from between the shoulder and neck down to the bottom of his ribcage. Four identical, small slots in his shoulder mirrored the four rods jutting out of the top of the arm. The rods had three darkly colored metal rings around them, in a kind of shape to cover around the shoulder.

Link was silent while Linebeck picked up the arm and simply slotted the rods into the holes with a faint grimace. He turned some small knobs on the rings, and they visibly tightened around his shoulder. The faint lines in his eyes blinked brighter a few times, and he slowly bent his arm. He wiggled his fingers and glanced up at Bellum. The AI only blinked and glanced at Link, who was visibly fairly uncomfortable. Linebeck adjusted more knobs on the arm, and glanced up at Link. "What did you need?"

Oh, right. Linebeck picked up the leg and fidgeted with a few knobs; it had rods like the arm. "I had a dream last night."

Linebeck frowned. "I didn't know you could dream." He cautiously lowered the leg to the bottom of the pants leg and carefully slid it up to his hip. "What was it about?"

"I don't really know. I was walking through a grassy feild with towns and people, with a sword and shield on my back. Four people were talking behind me. That was all that it was."

"Maybe it was a memory," Bellum murmured. "A large grassy field with towns, that sounds a lot like what Hyrule would've looked like."

Linebeck winced while the leg fit into place. "That's interesting." He shifted once the leg was stable and grabbed the coffee. "Is that it?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Get out. We're going to head to the city today. The tournament is tomorrow, but we might as well be there early. Tell the others." Linebeck waved him away and returned to work on a mass of parts on the table.

Link turned to leave, then hesitated. "Have your prosthetics ever just... fallen off? I know you tighten them, but that can't completely prevent that."

"The tightening is for them to stay still," Linebeck murmured. "Not to keep them from falling off. Something extra technology is in those holes in my shoulder and hip, and they constrain the rods so that the parts cannot be removed without my consent. In short, no one can just rip them out unless I let them. Seriously. We tested. No amount of tugging and pulling will rip them out." Linebeck took a sip of his coffee. "Keep that dream in mind and tell me if you have more, no matter how pointless and weird the dreams may be. They could have clues about what happened 200 years ago."


	10. Small Talk

The city was a busy as it had been when Link first visited, and the group found a hotel to stay at before anything else. It was nicer than the last, with four beds and a fair amount of space in the room. Link brought along both swords and his pot lid, and Linebeck had created a cheap pair of gauntlets and greaves for the fighting. Link had asked if they were sturdy, and Linebeck let him know that they would last, but would be cheap to remake.

With an entire day of free time on their hands, Midna offered to spar with Link in a nearby park, and Linebeck and Ghirahim would go and register Link for the tournament. Ghirahim and Linebeck left with little ceremony.

"Would you say you're as good as a fighter as Ghirahim?" Link murmured, tugging the gauntlets over his hands. He clipped his metal sword to his belt, leaving the holo-sword (Ghirahim named it) in the bag Midna would bring. "He's pretty fast."

Midna shrugged. "He's amazing with a sword, but he's a one-trick-pony. That's really all he can fight with. I can use an array of weapons, just none as well as he does with the sword. I'll give you tips on fighting against other weapons." She had her stronger spear on her back, along with a wood-cutting axe. A wooden sword was set in the back with the rest of their equipment.

Link frowned at the wood sword. "When'd we get that?"

"Linebeck's friends with a carpenter down the street."

"He has friends aside from you guys?"

Midna grimaced. "That guy's really the only one. He knows people, but that's it. That carpenter- his name's Damien- is his only friend in the city." She zipped up the bag. "You good to go?"

Link held up the pot lid and frowned. "Should I just carry this?"

"For the time being. We'll get you somewhere to put it at some point. Break it if you'd like, we can get another one."

Midna led Link out of the hotel and through the streets. Link stared around at the people they passed once again. Many robots, many humans, many others. A diverse city indeed. "Where's the coliseum in relation to the entire city?"

"To the south east of the castle. Close to the lake, I think you saw it while we were crossing the bridge. It's a big, circular building with banners and flags and statues at the top. The area can be altered by Sheikah technology- similar to what Linebeck thinks you're made of. That sword he found is Sheikah, though. If we're questioned, the cover story is that we bought it from some guy with a bunny hood in the marketplace."

The park they found a humble, an expanse of grass and trees. Midna found a clearing for the two of them and dropped the bag on the ground. Link unsheathed his own sword with mild hesitation. "Should we just start, or..."

Midna dropped her spear to the ground and took the axe in both hands. "Nope. You'll be introduced to your opponent, so you'll get a countdown before fighting. I'll start when you do. Axes and most other two-handed weapons are heavy and strong, so dodging and getting in some fast attacks is the way to go. It'll split your crappy little shield in half, so save that for spear or sword fighters."

Link nodded and kept it with the bag. He gripped the sword with both hands. An axe. He had no reason to underestimate Midna. With an axe, she might go for attacks in a straight line, easy enough for him to dodge. He bent his legs slightly, peering around the clearing. No. It was a duel. Running and hiding was the worse strategy. No longer waiting, he sprinted at Midna with his sword down at his hip, parallel to the ground.

Midna blocked his first attack, and he hopped back as she swung horizontally at him. The weapon's weight forced her to hesitate, taking a moment to bring it back to a ready stance. Link took his opportunity and lunged at her again. She could barely block, and staggered back, but Link proved to be faster, and his blade was at her throat in moments.

Midna smiled weakly. "Your speed is your advantage. Anyone is going to be slow with a heavy weapon. Never underestimate a robot with these. They were probably built to handle heavy weapons. You are fast and skillful, but don't get cocky." She dropped the axe by the bag and withdrew the spear.

The pot lid was sturdy-looking. Linebeck had added thin metal strips on the back, and an iron handle next to the wooden. It was light. The night before, Ghirahim had commented on how well Link handled it, a true complement. Followed quickly by a compliment to his own shield-less style. While Midna checked the balance of her spear, Link examined the weapon. It was about five and a half feet long, so if he wanted to get close, he could try forcing her spear off to the side with his shield.

She let him know that she was ready, and Link ran at her without waiting. She immediately swung at him from the side, forcing him to hesitate and jump back. The fight soon became repetitive, Link attempting to get close and Midna easily forcing him away. She was skilled and fast with the spear. After about a minute, Midna began fighting back; she was advancing towards him and making more attacks. Link blocked most with his shield, trying to inch forward when getting the chance.

The frustration boiling in his chest spilled over, and Link sprinted at Midna at full speed, shoving her spear away with his pot lid and slashing at her chest. She ducked to the side and slammed the spear shaft into Link's side. "We're going to do this again until you beat me," she playfully announced, and Link heavily sighed.

* * *

Linebeck sat with his legs neatly tucked under the bench. Ghirahim folded up the flier and stuffed it into his pocket. "How's your day been?" he asked, glancing sidelong at Linebeck. His expression was blank, and his goggles covered his eyes. He held a lit cigarette between two of his fingers. Dimly, Ghirahim was aware of the invisible AI fluttering about.

"Normal. Link woke me up and told me that he had a dream last night. He was walking through a grassy field until he woke up. Boring, but it's something."

Ghirahim nodded thoughtfully. The district they found themselves in was quieter, a few people passing by. It was quiet. After registering Link for the tournament, they sold a few trinkets and bought some sewing equipment. "How have you been feeling?"

"Tired, mostly. It's nice to have something to work on, but it's mostly just seemed like a distraction from other stuff."

"What other stuff?"

"Shit, I don't know. How have you been?" Linebeck's voice had an edge of irritability, and lifted the cigarette to his mouth.

"Oh, I've been wonderful," Ghirahim purred. "The other day, some people recognized me from a few sword fighting tournaments I'd been a part of! It was nothing but empty flattery, but it was certainly appreciated."

"Mhm."

Ghirahim's ears twitched. Bellum had said something. The corners of Linebeck's mouth curled up for a moment. He scowled to himself but held his tongue. "Do you dream when you sleep?"

"Sometimes."

That conversation slammed into a wall from the start. "...What do you think you were like back then? Before losing your memory?"

"Less numb," Linebeck began. "I was probably still an engineer. I doubt I was too happy, though, since something had to cause my aphenphosemphobia." He pulled his legs closer to the bench as someone walked a bit too close. "I want to get my memory back at some point, but I'm scared of what that might reveal." He shuddered. "For all we know, we've been through some deeply traumatic things."

Ghirahim pursed his lips. "Good point. I think I was a guard for someone. I jsut have this... aimless sense of loyalty deep in me. I know its loyalty to someone, but I'm not sure. I decided to project it on you and Midna."

"Your way of showing loyalty is pretty dickish."

"Continuing on. I bet I was some kind of warrior, traveling the world and challenging opponents. I wonder if I was famous! I bet all kinds of people fawned over me and asked me to teach them and guide them... I must have had _legions_ of followers!"

"Curb your ego," Linebeck muttered. "We lost our memories a little over a year ago. If you had followers prior to then, they would've tracked you down." He shifted and leaned over a bit. "I doubt it matters, though. I feel like we've been given a second chance at something. To be different people, live different lives, but something at the back of my mind keeps nagging at me that there's something I must do, something I left unfinished."

"Me, too," Ghirahim whispered. Linebeck's gaze snapped onto Ghirahim, swiftly jerking his goggles off his eyes. Surprise lit the lines in the whites. Ghirahim had noticed that certain emotions made them glow. "Yeah. I usually have this instinctive, visceral feeling that I was unable to finish something monumental."

"You think Midna feel that, too?"

"Yeah. The three of us woke up in the ruined facility, a trio of amnesiacs with a need to finish something." Ghirahim sighed heavily. He leaned back and watched some people walk by, to the fountain down the road. "Strange, eh?"

Linebeck mimicked Ghirahim's lean and peered up at the sky. "It's a nice day today."

"It is," Ghirahim murmured, watching a flock of birds fly off ahead. "Hey."

"What?"

"If Link wins-"

"_When_ he wins-"

"-what do you'll think we'll learn with Zelda? I mean, we might be able to access the castle library at the most, so Midna and I might be able to figure out what we are. We could learn the truth about back then."

"Don't care. I want the prize money."

"You're so damn superficial," Ghirahim snapped.

"I like money. This should not be a surprise to you." Linebeck sighed and set his jaw. "The thing about what we can learn if we meet Zelda is interesting, though. You guys have more of a goal, though."

Ghirahim shrugged. "We do. We always have. You just... seem to want to get a lot of money and keep working on your projects. You're pretty aimless."

Something flashed in Linebeck's eyes. He was silent, then smiled. "You're right. I should probably come up with a better goal, huh?"

"Obviously."

"Damn. Got any ideas?"

Ghirahim grunted. "Well, what do you want to do."

Very slowly, Linebeck glanced over and placed his hand on top of Ghirahim's. "No idea."

With a sharp, surprised inhale, Ghirahim froze and began to curl his fingers around Linebeck's hand.

"Don't," Linebeck whispered. "This is as much as I can do right now, and it still takes a few moments for the fear to go away."

"Sorry."

"I don't have many ambitions beyond getting rich. Let's keep it at that for a bit."

* * *

"I feel really lucky that I can't sweat," Link gasped. His sword slipped from his hand. Midna laughed weakly and let her spear drop. "You're so good with a spear," the robot whispered. "Thanks for sparring with me..." He sighed and swayed, falling into a sitting position. "I need a break."

"Will do," Midna dropped into a crouch. "You did well, but you've got to work on it." She smiled. "You're fast and quick to dodge, but you get frustrated. Try and cool down. Be more watchful. Had you been human, there would be a number of bruises in your side." She laid down in the coarse grass and let out a long exhale.

The sky was clear, but a faint yellow tint added an unnerving background. Birds flew away ahead, and a squirrel dashed down a tree and away from the clearing. The number of animals in the city parks compared to the number of animals he'd seen in the junkyard was, unsurprisingly, much more. Not only was their diversity in the citizens, but in the wildlife, too. On the walk to the park, Link had seen at least five different types of bushes. The general life in the city was much better than outside.

He sat up. "Hey, Midna?"

"Mhm."

"Do you think it would be possible to clean up the junkyard?"

"Oh, totally. We could use the metal to create new homes, melt down into parts and tools, all kinds of stuff. Quite honestly, this city is small. We can walk from one side to the other in under an hour. We usually reach the junkyard soon after the forty-five-minute mark when on the way here. It's not that big, and somehow in a perfect circle. People already take parts from it. We patched up the Rain Keep when we first found it using junkyard parts."

"That's cool," Link mused. "Does Ghirahim drink? You guys have mentioned that."

Midna nodded. "He does. It's not an addiction or anything, and it's usually to celebrate or for the sake of relaxing. I join in, but I keep track of it. Linebeck's not actually old enough to drink, remember? He hates it, anyways. We've never figured out why, but he's always very antsy around drunk people. More often than not, when Ghirahim and I head out to a bar to celebrate, he stays behind."

"Does Linebeck actually smoke weed?"

"Yeah, but not often. Usually when the rest of us are gone. He claims it helps him work. I can't claim otherwise." She pulled herself into an upright sitting position, legs crossed. "You up to do some more sparring? When we finish up the sword sparring, I'll take you to meet a few of my friends."

A nearby bird cawed, making Link pause. "Sounds good." He got to his feet, acutely away of his artificial heartbeat for a moment. He didn't think about it often. It sped up during action, slowed down when sleeping or in rest, reacted to his fear. It was much like his lungs and intake of breath- designed to be as humanlike as possible. Only it was encased in unbreakable material. That made sense. The heart was important, perhaps his was fragile.

Sword gripped in his left hand, Link circled Midna, the two of them facing off against each other. Midna's wooden sword was longer than Link's, but she had no shield. Out of the corner of his eye, Link was aware of some people glancing their way. He erased any emotion from his face, just to be safe.

This time, Midna lunged at him. Her sword connected with his shield, and his shoved it outwards at the moment of contact. Midna stumbled back and danced away when he slashed at where she had been and thrust her blade at his stomach. Link shuffled back and twisted to properly face her, and they traded a trio of quick blows before jumping away. Link sprang at her again and attacked whenever he saw an opening. Midna's defense was surprisingly solid, and she fended away his attacks with ease- whether or not her ease was fake was beyond him.

A crowd slowly gathered while they struggled. This wasn't like Link's fight with Ghirahim- the demon had obviously held back, there had always been something just below the surface that Link knew he couldn't defend against. He and Midna were fighting with nearly all their might. Midna was right, she wasn't as strong as Ghirahim, but she had more talents.

Splinters dropped off Link's makeshift shield. The rope and metal handles rubbed into his synthetic skin. Sensors in the back of his mind predicted Midna's moves, but she was too fast even for the tech he'd been created with. She moved with grace and savagery, managing both brutality and dexterity to dodge and weave around Link's defenses, and then bash her sword roughly against the pot lid's wood.

Link's skill and overall speed met her head on. His skill clashed with her brashness, the calculated attacks versus impulse swipes and smacks. His quick feet and reflexes against her twisting and dodging. Dents appeared in the sword Midna gripped, and her attacks had left force behind them, but they were closer to hitting him. Link stumbled back in the grass and took the full brunt of her next attack on his shield. A chunk on the top was dislodged and sent flying away. The broken part of the shield distracted Midna for just a moment, and Link shoved back and her and stopped his blade inches from her neck.

He was panting when he rasped, "I win. Good fight."

"I was distracted," Midna shot back, and poked him in the stomach with the sword. "But, yeah. Good job. I'll have Linebeck get the shield fixed by Damien. Sword, too, since this thing is really nice, but it's pretty dented right now." She dropped it on the ground and backed up.

The crowd watching nearby didn't clap, but they stared for a few more moments. Link returned his sword to his scabbard and let the pot lid fall on top of the sword. The crowd dispersed as Midna collected the both of them and packed them into the bag. Link picked up the bag for her and followed her back to the inn. "Are you going to introduce me to any of your friends?"

"Nah. I'll do that later. I have some errands to run, anyways. The others should be back at the inn by now, and Linebeck will have to leave to get this stuff back to Damien."

They jogged up the stairs and found their room, and Link dumped the bag on his bed. He wordlessly greeted Linebeck and Ghirahim, who, as Midna had predicted, had returned first. They weren't interacting, and barely reacted to the other two.

Midna pulled the sword and pot lid from the bag and tossed them at Linebeck. "We messed these up pretty bad. I'll bet Damien can get these fixed up by tomorrow, eh?"

"I hate you. You had this for like three hours. Damien put so much hard work into this, and you just banged it up in under a damn day."

Ghirahim lazily glanced over. "Yeah, that's impressive. Well, we signed Link up, so we're good to go. I'm going to run out and collect some stuff for equipment maintenance in a bit. Midna, do you have any errands?"

"Ah, thank you for asking, I do!" Link opened his mouth, but Midna cheerily said, "Link should stay here and rest." The robot deflated and collapsed onto his bed without a word. "Well, then," Midna shouted, her red-yellow eyes lighting up. "Let's just go and do what we want. Curfew should be around ten. Link can keep track of the time and call us out if we're late."

"I'm not your personal clock," Link whined.

"You're the most accurate time-teller I've ever seen," Linebeck mumbled, shifting the equipment in his arms and started on his way to the door. "I won't be long."

He left, and Ghirahim didn't look up as he muttered, "He didn't take any money with him."

"Who cares?" Midna left soon after. "He's friends with the guy."

"Oh. He could do a favor," Ghirahim murmured with a sly smiled. He paused, then muttered, "Oh, right. Aphenphosemphobia."

* * *

The sun was already lowering itself to the horizon as Ghirahim found his way to the equipment store near the coliseum. It was nameless, the sigh having been burned off by a stray fire arrow. A number of fights often occurred nearby. Ghirahim had been a part of a number of them. The owner of the shop never truly cared. If anything, he egged the fighters on. Ghirahim waved to the guy behind the counter, and Vaati aloofly waved back. He was reading a book with his arms crossed on the table, a bit of black grease on the sleeves of his purple cloak.

The shelves of oil and grease and small whetstones and magic tomes went up to Ghirahim's shoulders while he browsed. He picked out a number of whetstones, setting them on top of the shelf while he looked for a bag. Vaati idly pointed at a pile of baskets in the corner of the shop. "What do you need the whetstones for?"

"I've got some swords to sharpen. You know that robot that my cyborg friend fixed up? We're entering him into the tournament, and we need to keep his equipment good." Ghirahim spilled the whetstones into the basket, and then picked up a random tome. He held it up. "What does this do?"

Vaati glanced up and shrugged. "You tell me? I collect stuff for the fun of it. Show it to me." Ghirahim left his basket on the shelf and handed it to Vaati. The shopkeeper shrugged. He rubbed at the black marking beneath his red eye. "Looks like a wind tome. I think I've already mastered this one. Are you trying to figure out your magic prowess? Good idea," Vaati mused, handing the book back.

"Thanks," Ghirahim murmured. "Is it okay if I come over for more tutoring during the tournament?"

"Sure." Vaati sat up a bit straighter. "I'd be happy to." He paused, then smiled. "A few people have asked if we're brothers or something, with our hair and everything," Vaati said, pointing to his own purple hair that hid his right eye. "I'd say that we're close friends."

"Yeah," Ghirahim purred. "Linebeck makes fun of me for it. Right about now, he should be with that carpenter guy that I think he might be dating." He left the basket on the counter and returned to the shelves.

"You think?"

"The boy's got aphenphosemphobia. He's never kissed anyone. The carpenter is usually very busy. But they seemed pretty close." Ghirahim crouched down and picked out a few small tools and metals. "If they are dating, good for him. He's the only one in the group with that."

"Does he seem happy?" Vaati asked, glancing up from his book.

Ghirahim shrugged. He walked back over to the counter and slid the metals into the basket and pushed it over to Vaati. "This is all I want. It's hard to tell if he's happy or not. He usually seems content around robots and his work, but otherwise, I don't know if he really feels anything. He's a good actor."

Vaati nodded and added a few small bottles of wax, oil, and grease. "These will be free. The rest of your stuff it about fifty rupees each."

"That's a discount," Ghirahim muttered.

"Yep. Just give me the money. I'm like, halfway done with this book and it's great. I appreciate your visit, but we can really talk during the tournament." Vaati took Ghirahim's money while he turned the page of his book.

"Oh, thanks," Ghirahim muttered. He took the items out of the basket and started to leave.

"You can take the basket if you'd like."

"I don't need it, don't worry." Ghirahim hesitated, then turned back. "Hey."

"What?"

"Mind if I stay for a bit? I wanna show you what I've learned I can do with magic. I keep forgetting to do that." Ghirahim hurried back to the counter. Vaati closed his book with transparent interest.

The shopkeeper watched intently as Ghirahim held out his hand. A small cluster of flickering diamond shapes appeared and floated. "I don't think it does anything," Ghirahim muttered, "But this is the newest thing I've learned to do."

"Pretty lame for demon magic," Vaati yawned. "But, I'm proud of you! I hope you manage to figure everything out. What else can you do?"

* * *

Midna sprinted down the bridge, only ten minutes since exiting the inn. She ran pretty much the entire way, and the pair of red-haired Gerudo women were easy to find, taller than everyone around. Midna regularly found herself to be taller than nearly everyone in the city, but the Gerudo were taller than most everyone but the Zora. A theory shared between Midna and Ghirahim was that Linebeck must've had some Gerudo in his genetics, what with his height and dark skin.

Midna skidded to a stop a few meters away from the women and sauntered up to them. "Hey."

"Ah, hello," Urbosa smiled. "Good to see you again, Midna! But we did see your little sparring match with that boy earlier."

"That was an exciting fight," Nabooru added. "You friends with that kid or something?"

Midna shook her head. "Nah. He's actually a robot that Linebeck found and fixed up. He's pretty intricately designed and made to fight. We entered him into the tournament this afternoon, so consider watching his fights!"

"I was planning to watch either way," Urbosa mused. "Revali and Ashei teamed up pretty recently and made a robot for the tournament as well, and the think seems pretty sturdy. I can't wait to see them fight..." She sighed. "I do hope you guys win, though. I know you've been dying to meet Zelda, and even temporary access to the castle could perhaps help you figure out what you are. Revali's in it for the fame, and Ashei just wants to test out their robot."

Nabooru walked up and playfully punched Midna in the shoulder. "I'd like to face off against that guy pretty soon, though. How does he fight against spears?"

"It's rough for both sides," she admitted. "He's good with a sword and shield; it' probably what he was created for." Midna glanced off into the lake. "We've had a pretty fun two weeks, though. We're all occupied with the robot at some point every day. Linebeck locks himself in the workshop pretty much all the time now."

"Remind him to eat at some point." A few other people were on the bridge, but no one was listening to their conversation. Urbosa leaned in slightly. "Remind him to take care of himself in general. Last time I saw him, he looked like hell."

"He always does," Midna groaned. "Besides, he's lively enough. A bit grouchy, but you get the idea." She shot a sidelong glance at Nabooru. "On the other hand. How's Riju?"

"She's going to the tournament with us," Nabooru responded. "She's pretty excited. Riju's usually so busy with the animals she takes care of, so the time off will be good for her. We've tried to get her to let us work on some days to give her time off, but Riju is pretty tied to her job. At least she's got Buliara with her to help."

"You guys have jobs, right?" Midna asked with clear skepticism.

"I work part-time with the guards of the city," Nabooru dryly answered.

"I teach sword fighting," Urbosa offered.

"Ah. I'm unemployed. Technically, all three of us are. It's fun."

Urbosa scoffed and playfully tousled Midna's hair. "Well, good for you guys. Ghirahim's been tame, right? If you need, I can knock some sense into him."

"I don't need any help, but I'll keep you in mind," Midna grinned, backing up a few steps. "Well, it was nice talking to you two real quick. I'm on a time limit here. I've got... maybe three hours left? Oooh, do you two have some time? We could take a walk and get some dinner. I'm broke, though. One of you will have to pay."

Nabooru made a show of rummaging through her trouser pockets and pulled them inside out with a dramatic sigh. "Me too. Looks like you'll have to pay, Urbosa."

* * *

The little bell above the door let out a small chime when the door was pushed open. Linebeck shut the door with the heel of his foot, both arms carrying the sword and pot lid. Bellum peered around the nondescript shop, a few items out for display and a lantern hanging from the ceiling. No one was behind the counter, but they both heard a cheery "Give me a moment," from the room in the back.

Linebeck tugged the goggles down around his neck and deposited the items on the counter. He waved at the man who exited from the back room. "Hey, Damien. They screwed their stuff up again, I'm sorry."

Damien frowned at the sword, holding it up. "Damn. Did this thing get banged against metal?"

"Repeatedly," Linebeck sighed. "Sorry."

Damien quickly shook his head. "Oh, it's alright." A content glint appeared in his green eyes. "I don't get too much work in general. I can work that lid into a good shield if you need, too. I'll need about seventy rupees for both."

Linebeck rummaged through his pockets and tossed fifty on the counter. "This is all I could steal from Ghirahim before he noticed."

"You stole this?"

"I'm not above theft. I can make up for the rest with a kiss if you like," Linebeck nonchalantly offered. Bellum hissed something in his ear about being weak. '

Damien raised an eyebrow as he looked over the pot lid. "I'd appreciate it, but can you do that? I don't want to both you much, and I know that even as little as putting your hand on another causes stress."

"Exposure is a way of fighting against a phobia," Linebeck stated, leaning over the counter a bit. "It'll have to be quick. Why are you worried? I'm the one with the fear."

Damien sighed, but he smiled fondly. "Fair point. I trust you." He left the items alone and glanced at Linebeck. "No other touching?"

"Nope. I'll have to initiate it to minimize the anxiety."

"Fine." Damien gathered the items up in his arms with ease. "In the back. I can fix these up by tomorrow morning, but I assume you have some specifics in mind." Linebeck tilted his head to the side but followed Damien into the back. The back half of the shop was technically Damien's home, a small but homey little apartment.

Damien dropped the pair of equipment on a table with wood shavings and turned to face Linebeck. "Go ahead, the rest of my payment." Linebeck nodded stiffly and carefully and briefly kissed Damien on the lips. His hand came up and the tips of his fingers brushed the carpenter's jawline. It lasted long enough for Damien to lightly kiss him back before he flinched away. "You good?" Damien asked, unable to stifle a slight smiled at Linebeck's flustered expression.

"Y-yeah, I managed. You can get to work. I-I'll watch for a bit, if you'd like."

"Oh, please." Damien turned and set out the sword. "I might need to carve new stuff entirely, if that's alright."

"That's uh, not extra charge, right?"

"No, your company is enough." Damien slid the makeshift weapons away. "Make yourself comfortable while you're here. Want any tea? We can make it a sort of date."

Linebeck nodded, and Damien set up a kettle on his small stove. He crossed his legs on the stiff couch, peering around at the room. Most of the furniture was wooden. Self-made. A number of wood figures and statues were lined up on the many shelves and tables. Linebeck removed his goggles entirely and tossed them on the table in front of him. Bellum squinted around, and muttered, "Shitty little place. Kinda creepy."

"Shut it," Linebeck snapped. "You've been here before, and we both know that he loves his work." He paused. "It is a bit stuffy."

Damien returned with a pair of mugs, and Linebeck asked, "Is your fan broken? It's a bit warm."

"Yeah. You can have a look at it if you want, I left it on the kitchen table. What's Bellum think?"

"He's talking shit, as usual."

"Ah. Tell him he can shove it."

"Do _not_," Bellum hissed when Linebeck turned to him.

Linebeck took his mug and carried it with him to the kitchen table. Damien watched him from his worktable in the living room, a new plank of wood ready to be carved. The fan was simple, a common model, made of iron and tin with sharp fan blades within a cold webbing. Linebeck peered at the wires trailing from the bottom. It was intended to be hooked up to a sort of power source- most common sources being cheap lighting magic reserves. There were rumors that the Sheikah had a limitless type of power source, but there was little evidence.

"It sparked the other day," Damien offered. "The wires snapped. Didn't last long."

"I can make you a better one," Linebeck declared, looking over the fan. "It'll be easy. These things are shit." He left the broken machine on the table and walked over to where Damien began his work. He was slowly carving out a new sword, a larger and flatter piece propped up against the wall for the shield.

Damien was hardly focused on his work, but his hands glided over the wood with the knife with mild ease. Linebeck was tempted to remove his coat because of the warmth, but Damien left the top half of his shirt unbuttoned. At the right angle, the symmetrical scars on his chest were visible. Linebeck peeked at Bellum out the corner of his eyes, finding the little AI staring at the Hylain. After a moment, Bellum muttered, "This guy's definitely suited to his work."

Linebeck shrugged and sniffed at his tea. "You've known this guy as long as I have. Nothing is new. Shut up." He glanced around the room and took a sip of the tea. Most of the carvings were of people; Linebeck actually recognized a good number of them. He sauntered over to one of the higher shelves and narrowed his eyes at a line of four carvings. "You've carved me a few times?"

Damien cleared his throat. "You're a good subject."

"Aw, you even added those lines in my eyes! That's pretty accurate, holy shit."

"That was hard. What are the words on your goggle strap? The next one I'm doing has you holding the goggles and I want the words to be right."

"The words are 'Pulvis et umbra sumus'. I left my goggles on the table if you want to see the spelling."

"Thanks," Damien said, his voice followed by the sound of footsteps. "How long are you staying for?"

"'Til around nine. I've gotta be back at the inn by ten. I entered that robot I found into the tournament; promise me you'll watch it. He'll be using your shield, so feel free to carve a logo or something in," Linebeck muttered, turning and returning to the couch. "Just, y'know, nothing crude."

Damien laughed. Linebeck collapsed on the couch with a smile. Bellum growled quietly, and muttered, "This is so stupid."

"Hush and let me have some fun. He's my friend."

"Boyfriend."

"Yeah, that."

* * *

**(A/N)**

**I'm probably going to start adding small author's notes to a few chapters.**

**The fact that I got a five and a half thousand word chapter out in about four days impresses me. If only I could do that all the time.**

**If anyone is wondering, Damien is an OC of mine.**

**And, since I haven't actually said this yet, I appreciate all the reviews and follows and favorites so far! Just the fact that people are clicking on this amazes me. **


	11. Day One of the Tournament

**A/N**

**A quick preface before this chapter begins: some dark themes are implied around the end of this chapter. **

**I can say that fight scenes are hard to write, and I'll apologize in advance if they're dull.**

**Other than that, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Neither Ghirahim, Midna, nor Linebeck returned to the inn by ten. They all overshot the target time by an hour, but they returned all the same. They all slept, Linebeck included, and Link was left awake, inspecting the sturdy new shield that Linebeck had bought from his friend. It wasn't light but wasn't too heavy, with a wooden handle and a rope strap for his arm. Metal was nailed to the edge of the shield, for extra durability and protection.

An emblem, split into four parts, was carved into the center. The top left and bottom right had heart shapes carved in, top right had an intricate key, and the bottom left had a creature propped up on its hind legs, claws extended and mouth open. It took up most of the shield, which was carved into a rounded rectangle type shape. Link set it on the table with the holo-sword and went to sleep in his own bed.

The group woke early in the morning and gathered their things. Link carried the sword and shield with one hand, shield straps around his forearm and the sword hilt in hand. Ghirahim carried the bag with the rest of their stuff, trailing behind the other three as the tournament was explained to a rather clueless Link.

"You'll fight some other robots," Linebeck muttered. "Tear them apart if you want. We won't be sued. Murder them. It's a line of fight after fight, with an interlude with a Sheikah-made enemy. It's over two days, the first part today, the rest of the day off for repairs, and tomorrow is the rest. You'll kick ass."

Midna crossed her arms over her chest with a smug smile. "C'mon, I taught you well, and you have some crazy combat skills even if you've only sparred. Second round, every match, the Sheikah somehow change the area's landscape, so it's new every time. You can't rely on a certain type of land every match." She glanced at a pair of Gorons walking by. They were the first other people they'd seen in the streets all morning. The sun was barely over the horizon. The tournament started at ten, but the group intended to stop at the coliseum and drop off their equipment before wasting some time. They reassured Link that their items would be safe in a locker.

They reached the coliseum and stopped to allow Link a proper view of it. It towered over the short buildings nearby, as wide as the small park he and Midna had sparred in. In truth, it was most likely dwarfed by the castle. Tapestries and banners hung from the top, glassless windows allowing small views into the halls and seating areas. Multiple arched doorways allowed entrance into the dimly lit hallways.

Ghirahim waited outside, transferring the bag to Link's hands. He didn't give them an excuse, and neither Linebeck nor Midna asked for one as they herded Link into the coliseum halls. It was mostly empty, other teams probably planning to drop their stuff off later in the day. Link stared around in the dark. It was dim, and considerably lightened up once he got used to it. There seemed to be one, long continuous hallway on the bottom floor, a few doorways leading to the seats.

The lockers were in a small side room, each about the size of a broom closet with the robots' names on them. Link's was one of the first in the line, and it was easy enough to leave the bag and related equipment inside. No words were exchanged between the trio until they returned to Ghirahim. A faint breeze blew through the city. Ghirahim greeted them without a word, and silently motioned towards a pair walking towards them. A blue-feathered Rito and a pale Hylian girl. Linebeck scowled upon seeing them.

The Rito's eyes lit up when he saw them, and the Hylian only rolled her eyes when he hurried towards them. She continued walking into the coliseum without him, carrying a bag of similar size to the one Link had. The Rito had a cocky gleam in his green eyes, and he stopped with his wings- hands? - on his hips. "Oh ho, I didn't think I'd see you and your friends here, Becky."

Linebeck set his jaw. "Call me that one more time and I'll skin you alive like the squawking Cucco you are." He crossed his arms and glared at the Rito. "Piss off, Revali, I have nothing to say to you except you can eat our robot's dust."

The Rito blinked with fake surprise. "Oh, my, so rude! Awfully rude for a man who can't handle being touched for too long without vomiting." A sly grin spread across Revali's face. "I have no time to dawdle, talking with your ragtag group. Ashei and I are busy preparing our own first-rate robot, and we're sure to win this time." He turned with a flourish and walked into the coliseum. Linebeck let loose a quiet stream of curses under his breath and flipped Revali off.

Link glance at Ghirahim. "They know each other?"

"Rivals, really," Ghirahim sighed. "They met early after we woke, and Linebeck beat him in a past robot tournament. They hate each other, to put it simply." He waited until Linebeck returned to the group and raised his voice slightly. "Well, then, where to now?"

"Don't care," Linebeck muttered. "You guys lead the way."

Nothing else was said, and Ghirahim led them back into the city. He didn't say where they were going, but everyone else seemed to have an idea of where they were going. Link slowed his walk so that he could be adjacent to Linebeck. "What's Damien like?"

Linebeck blinked. All frustration seemed wiped off his face. "Huh?"

"Midna said your friends with a guy named Damien. What's he like?"

Linebeck turned away, but it wasn't fast enough to hide a sheepish smile. Bellum rolled his eye but remained silent. "He's really nice. He works as a carpenter, so a lot of his furniture and stuff are self-made. Lack of business doesn't really bother him; he's got some kind of second job. Uh. Damien and I have similar hair color, but he's a bit paler, if that helps you imagine him. His eyes are green, too, but lighter. Really pretty."

Something in the back of Link's mind clicked. "You're in love with him?"

Linebeck visibly flinched. "...Y-yes. The others know, but I kinda wanna keep it a secret for the most part." He hugged himself. "Damien doesn't mind." He glanced at Link. "That's not important right now, though." He straightened up, regaining his composure. "We need to focus on the tournament later today. There are 24 robots, so you'll fight three times today, and tomorrow the Sheikah robot, and then the last two. Simple, really."

"Yeah, simple," Link muttered. "How tough are the other robots?"

"Depends, really." Linebeck glanced off to the side, seemingly staring through the storefronts they passed. "More often than not, they're scavenged piles of scrap. Usually jerky and fragile, but some can be fast and strong."

He sighed and quickened his pace. He slowed near Midna. Bellum remained behind. Link glanced at the floating AI. "Where are we going?" He didn't recognize the apartments and stores they were passing, but it was a bit more populated than everywhere else.

Bellum blinked. "Hm. This leads to a part of the city that's denser in shops and places to eat. Unfortunately, Yiga attacks are also common here. I assume they're going to get something to eat before the tournament."

"What's the deal with the Yiga?"

"Don't you already know? It's a cult of sorts that wants to bring down the castle and the Sheikah. Pretty straight forward, but no one knows if that really if their goal, and their leader is unknown. They stick to the city, though. Outside villages rarely have problems with them. The Gerudo have the biggest problems, though, as they are currently without a leader. The Yiga seem to have a grudge against them." Bellum sighed and did a quick loop-de-loop out of boredom. "They're simple."

They passed through an alleyway and then into a street where the walls were covered in graffiti, people milling around everywhere. It looked almost cheery, despite the backdrop of the faint yellow sky and the heat. Link followed the group into a small cafe of sorts, a bit colder than the city streets. A few fans were in each corner of the small restaurant. Link followed the group to a table in the corner, not bothering to talk with anyone.

Not too many people were in the cafe. It was a wooden building with warm lights, about three other people inside, not counting the two people audible in a back room behind the counter. Ghirahim relaxed in the squeaky chair that he chose, Midna settling next to him. Link sat at Ghirahim's other side, and Linebeck dragged over an extra chair to fit between the two empty ones. Link crossed his arms on the table and peered around. "This place is nice," he mumbled. "Have you guys been here before?"

"I'm friends with the owner," Midna muttered. "We come here often. It's cheap, cheaper since I do favors for the owner."

"Favors?"

"We sell some of the stuff we grow to this place. We help keep it stocked." Midna leaned back, propping her legs up on the table. "The two people who run this place are from Rito village, a pair of friends, I suppose. Revali is also Rito, but he's the other kind. There are two kinds of Rito."

"I know," Link nodded. "I know this stuff, remember?"

"Hard to keep track of what you do and don't know," Ghirahim sighed. "You seem to waver between being an encyclopedia and a human idiot. Linebeck hasn't really put in any time to see what your mind contains."

"I told you," Linebeck hissed, "they're encrypted. I can't access his programming or anything. I haven't found any kind of way to do that. I found the console, but I can't tamper with his programming. What's the point of even giving a way to look at his programming without allowing editing?"

Link shrugged. "Maybe just to check that it's working, not to mess with it. I'm doing fine, aren't I?" He unconsciously felt the area of the hidden panel in his neck. "There are a lot of mysteries floating around, huh?"

"Mysteries," Midna huffed, "that will hopefully be solved when you win that tournament and let us meet with Zelda. And, y'know, get us a fair bit of money, too. Just don't get destroyed."

Behind the counter, a Rito looking rather unlike Revali spotted them. She had long brown hair, a more Hylian-like form, but in the place of a nose was a beak. Link glanced over at her arms and instinctively knew that, if she wanted, feathers would sprout and cover her arms to allow her to fly. She hurried over to their table. Midna and Ghirahim greeted her with a soft "Hi, Medli," but Linebeck ignored her in favor of fiddling with the back of his prosthetic hand. Link weakly waved at her.

"Hi," Medli chirped, her voice soft and slightly melodious. Right off the bat, Link could tell she was musically inclined "Nice to see you guys in here today." She smiled at Link. "I don't think we've met."

Link kept his mouth shut. He suddenly became anxious. Should he speak or not? To speak would ruin the illusion of him being a wordless robot created to fight, but-

Ghirahim rested his hand on top of Link's head. "This is Link. We met him a few weeks ago. He's quiet at times.'

Link nodded quickly. "Sorry. Yeah. Nice to meet you."

Medli smiled. "Nice to meet you, too!" She shifted her gaze from Link to the rest of the group. "I take it you guys want something to eat. With the tournament starting later today, I'll bet you'll want an early start."

It turned out that Medli shared the cafe with a friend named Komali, and they usually served types of coffee and assorted breakfast foods. Link was given a moment to look over a menu, Bellum uttering recommendations to him based on the items' appearances. He waved him away, his hand only phasing through him. Bellum floated over to Linebeck and hovered just above his shoulder.

The group ordered little food. Linebeck and Ghirahim both decided on coffee, and all but Linebeck agreed on eggs. Medli took their order and left. Link waited until she was out of earshot. "So, I'm human to these people now? Won't that cause a problem during the fights?"

"We can obscure your face," Linebeck mumbled. "I set up some headgear for you."

"Oh. Cool."

"It's pretty much just a helmet that'll put up a visor over your face. Nothing fancy."

Link nodded and rested back in his chair. "Uh. How do people get produce and stuff?"

"Well, there's people like us," Midna explained, "Some grow and sell their own food. All of the major villages have their own produce and animal products that they sell to the rest of Hyrule. There's just enough for everyone, but there's more and more every month."

They quietly thanked Medli as she brought over the food. They ate quietly, watching people outside talking and milling around. Linebeck ran his finger along the rim of his mug, watching it cool while the others talked tournament strategy. Link picked at his own food, anxiety worming its way into his stomach. "Aren't you all worried about me getting ripped apart or broken?"

"We are," Linebeck muttered. "But you're made up of some pretty durable material. At worst, your face might be ripped off but that's repairable." He peered at his coffee and took a sip of it. "You're skilled enough that we doubt it'll be a problem."

* * *

"There's a good chance that Link could be ripped to pieces, so we can safely say that we're quite literally betting one-hundred-thousand rupees on his ancient ass surviving."

Midna let out a weak laugh, following Linebeck up the stairs into the seating area. "We're gambling with the most valuable thing we've seen in the past year."

"So reckless," Ghirahim sighed, picking a seat between the two of them. "But I can respect it. As you said, he's made of some pretty durable stuff. You can repair him, especially since you've even found stuff like him." He leaned forward, getting a good look at the sandy arena. "I doubt he'll get broken, anyways. It's not allowed to straight-up incinerate other robots. You got to keep all parts intact, but severing parts is okay. Severing the head is the best, right? I don't usually watch these."

Linebeck shrugged. "In early matches, it's okay to absolutely decimate your opponent. After the break, though, they're considered too well-made to risk having them blown to bits. It's a bit more careful, and those matches are timed." He glanced around the crowd, sitting up straight. "Tell me if you guys see Damien. He said he'd try and sit by me."

"I'll keep an eye out for your boyfriend," Midna sighed. "Though, I bet Bellum could spot him faster than you. Have him do it." She leaned back in her seat. The seating for the area was surprisingly comfortable, and the people around them murmured to each other. It wasn't as loud as most newcomers would expect. The lowest seats were ten feet above the arena ground, and a metal fence would spring up if something hurtling towards the audience was detected. Shiekah were posted close to the area in case they were needed.

* * *

Link shifted from one foot to the other, glancing around the room. The other robots had gathered in the room near the arena, and a screen showed them the tournament brackets. Most of the other robots didn't have shelling or skin like he did. Each were inspected by a Sheikah, and Link had remained silent and stoic when he had returned to the coliseum. They were clearly curious about him and his skillful design and creation.

He gathered his shield and sword from the locker, slipping the gauntlets and greaves on before he and the others were herded into the other room. The headset that Linebeck had prepared for him was similar to a knight's helmet, a sturdy visor over his face. It reached down to his shoulders, so no one in the room thought of taking it off of him. Link checked the weight of the shield while waiting for the first match to start and made a mental note to keep it from catching on fire. Most of the other robots had simple designs, but a few looked more complicated. None spoke to him.

The muffled drone of the crowd outside was the only sign that things might start soon. The door opened, and a Sheikah in dark blue clothing strode through the crowd of robots. They wore a cloth over their mouth and nose, their white hair was tied back in a bun, and armor made of a strange material protected their limbs. They glanced over the group of robots and crossed their arms, saying nothing.

A few of the robots could speak, mostly in monotone voices with rerecorded sentences. They all went silent. The Sheikah cleared their throat. "The first match will begin in five minutes." Behind them, one of the matchups was circled. "These two will go first. Be ready."

Link took in a deep breath. If the matching were going down from the top, he'd be the sixth to go. On the other side of the bracket was the same number of robots. The intermission matches were ready, without challengers. Everything was ready, all he had to do was wait, and scout out his enemy- a thin robot with a number of blades in its arms. He stared at it across the room and wondered how Linebeck would study it. Perhaps he would take it apart to see how the blades fit in.

After five minutes, the door to the arena was opened, and the two chosen robots were sent in. Both simply had swords, but one had longer limbs. If that one didn't win, Link would be surprised. The screen turned from the brackets to a view of the area, the sandy land untouched while the two robots ran at each other. They had jerky movements but didn't stumble. Against each other, it was already proving to be a battle of parries and constant blade clanging, but Link could beat either of them with ease.

The robots in the room with him went silent, staring up at the screen. The fight went on for a bit. The live feed showed the crowd at the edges, and Link squinted to see if he could get a view of his own group. It was hard enough to see the people in the front rows, so it was quickly futile. By the time he gave up, the long-limbed robot severed some wires of the other, shutting it down. Link frowned. Perhaps these were the weaker kinds of robots, because he doubted this would be very interesting.

The next match was a bit more interesting. One robot, armed with a spear and small bucklers, was less human, with four arms and three legs, scuttling around the other robot with a bow and effectively winning after about a minute. The next few were boring, at least to Link. The crowd roared each time a robot was hit.

Link turned away from the screen and surveyed the room. The Sheikah watched them all, occasionally moving from their spot to shove others into the arena. More interesting robots were the ones who moved fast and fluidly, like a human. Linebeck was skilled, but Link was starting to wonder how many other engineers were more skilled.

He didn't realize that it was his turn until the Sheikah shoved him from behind. "You're up next, buddy." Link only grunted and jogged after the other robot into the bright arena. The crowd was almost deafening at first, but his ears adjusted. His opponent glanced sidelong at him, and then looked away. There were still a few moments before the first match began.

The crowd was made up of many colors, of every race that Link could think of. It took a few moments, but his eyes flicked to the familiar trio of scavengers. Midna and Ghirahim were talking to one another, glancing around the arena. Linebeck was peering almost forlornly around the arena and made eye contact with Link on a whim. The lines in his eyes flashed like they had nearly two weeks before, and Link broke eye contact as a shiver ran down his spine. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see that Linebeck looked shaken as well. The blue bit of light around him must be Bellum; the little AI was circling Linebeck's head in an excited manner.

Link almost didn't hear the robotic voice commanding him to begin fighting, but the other robot rushing at him snapped him out of his stupor. He brought up his shield, the waxed and sturdy wood taking the brunt of the blades. Sharp as they were, there wasn't a mark in the wood. This robot was fast, refusing to back off, pummeling Link's shield with its blades. Link reached back and groped at his belt for the hilt of the holo-sword, grabbing it when his hands brushed against the stone-like material.

The robot struck his shield again and reeled back for another attack, and Link jumped back and sprinted away, desperate to put some distance between them. He ran to the edge of the arena and activated the sword's blade. The low humming brought a sense of calm to him, the sense that he now had everything under control.

The robot, made of a shiny steel in a humanoid form but lacking a face, turned and sprinted after him again. Link brought up his shield as the attacks resumed and shoved back as one of the bladed punches connected. The crowd roared and Link lunged at the stumbling robot, slicing through the right shoulder with minor effort. The metal turned red and melted away, the arm clattering to the ground. A monotone grunt was his opponent's only response, and the extra second of recovery allowed Link to remove the other arm.

The cheering crowd almost deafened him. The defeated robot fell to the ground, deactivated. His sword automatically retracted the blade as he returned it to his belt, and he spared at glance at his shield while the Sheikah led him back into the room. No scratches. Something about the wood was helping it hold up. The door slammed once he was back in the dark, and he collapsed on a bench at the edge of the room.

* * *

"That's a good shield," Ghirahim murmured, leaning forward. The spindly robot that Link was up against was slashing at the wood without faltering, but the carved shield didn't bear a single scratch. "Your boyfriend's one hell of a carpenter, damn."

"He's good," Linebeck sighed, leaning back and crossing his arms.

Midna pursed her lips in a mockingly pitying way. "Aw, someone looks grumpy about Damien not showing up."

Linebeck growled. "Look, he might still show up. He's busy! I don't blame him, but still... he promised." The crowd around him roared as Link cut off the robot's arms. "I'll have to thank him for making such a good shield, though." He glanced over his shoulder at a green-scaled Zora, holding out his hand. "Pay up, I won this time."

The Zora scowled and dropped a red rupee into his hand. "You're gambling," Midna muttered. "Of course."

"I'm betting on these matches," Linebeck corrected. "There's a difference."

"Good for you," Ghirahim laughed, patting Linebeck on the shoulder.

"Don't touch me."

"It was momentary. Who'll win this next match? Can I bet too?"

"No, this is between me and him."

"What's his name?"

"Dunno. He's got money and he's willing to bet with me so that's all I care about." Linebeck squinted at the two new robots showed on the screen and turned back to the Zora. "Fifty rupees says that the bronze-tailed guy wins."

Ghirahim sighed and stood up. "Whatever. I have an appointment right now, anyways. I'll meet you after the first half today." He waded through the crowd to the stairs, and Midna took his spot next to Linebeck.

"Why'd you scoot over?"

"Someone has to keep an eye on you."

Linebeck shrugged. "Someone has to keep an eye on you, too."

* * *

The first matches were over quickly, and Link moved on to the next round. The number of robots in the room was halfed, and a few had begun to speak with each other. The Sheikah approached Link. "Hello."

Link only peered up at him. Don't speak. Don't speak. Don't change your expression. The Sheikah tilted their head to the side. "Where did you happen to find that sword?" Link blinked. He pointed at his sword hilt. "Yes, that." Link shrugged. "You cannot speak, can you?" Link nodded. "Is it possible for me to ask your creator?" Link tilted his head to the side. Linebeck was more likely to throw a knife at the Sheikah than bother talking with them. He shrugged once again.

The Sheikah only frowned and turned away. The next match began a few minutes later, and the cheering started back up. Two more robots were herded back out, and Link felt his artificial heart skip a beat. The arena had drastically changed- a number of hills had sprung up, along with green bushes and tufts of grass. How they managed to change the arena so quickly was beyond him- technology, perhaps. It was said that those who resided in the castle had the most advanced technology in the city, perhaps in all of Hyrule. It made sense, as it had been the epicenter of was destroyed Hyrule and was said to be the capitol of an advanced land.

Link ignored the match. He was the third match, up against a robot with thick armoring and... little else. He'd need to cut away from the armor... avoid getting too close. There was a good chance that this robot was made to be very strong.

One robot caught his eye- a sturdy robot with a spear and quick feet. It dismantled its opponent from atop one of the hills and marched compliantly back into the room. A pair of blue feathers signified it as the robot that Revali and Ashei had made. Revali seemed cocky, but Link sensed that it was well founded. He'd only seen Ashei from a distance, and she seemed to be quiet and reserved. He stared at the robot while the next match elicited excitement and applause, as the others did.

The next match was over when Link glanced back up at the screen. The terrain had changed to be rockier with small piles of boulders. They changed the land each time, shaking things up for the robots and adding more value to the tournament for viewers. It had been about an hour and a half since it began, and Link had found himself caught up in the event- he'd lost track of time. It had only felt like it had been 45 minutes at the most.

The losing robot was promptly smashed to bits, and the winner returned with a few dents. The screen shut off while the terrain most likely changed once again. With a shock, Link realized that the Sheikah had been staring at him. Was it because of his sword? It was obviously old technology, so maybe they were suspicious that it had been stolen from the castle. The painfully bright light of the screen returned, and Link was greeted with the sight of a marsh-like setup, with dark trees and muddy ground, water between thin strips of land.

The murky water seeped into Link's boots when he stepped out into the arena, and he was grateful for the helmet as a disgusted grimace forced its way onto his face. The other robot had a mask, offering some sort of face, like a fox. Link regarded its heavy armor and decided that there was no way it could be fast. When the match started, it was faster than he expected, but still weighed down by the armor.

Link made a break for the tallest tree, right in the middle of the arena. The trunk was thick with moss covering the bark, but Link was able to hoist himself up onto the lower branches before the other robot reached him. He crept out to the end of one of the limbs, holding the blade of his sword in a safe position. His opponent stomped over and came to a stop just below him, and Link slashed his sword through a branch just above it. It fell and snapped over the robot's head, making it stagger and denting its helmet.

Link dropped down on top of the robot, straddling it around the neck with his legs. It let out a tinny screech and grabbed at his legs, but Link held on tight, and thrust the sword downward into its head. He jumped off and stumbled back as it swayed and fell over. Why the other matches took so long was beyond him. He deactivated his sword and strode back to the room, glancing back at the terrain, expecting to see a change. It all glowed blue for a moment just as the door closed.

The next terrain change was to a snow-covered incline. The next fight was longer than he expected, as both were using a sword and shield and found each other to be evenly matched. He ignored the fights and returned to his bench, leaning against the wall. Perhaps if he was fighting actual humans, the fights would be more difficult. Link frowned to himself under his helmet as he realized how arrogant he was being. He inspected the shield while he waited. It looked untouched, like it had just been created.

Link found himself zoning out, staring at the Sheikah. The Sheikah themselves were there to protect the citizens and Zelda, but they could've been a bit nicer to everyone. This Sheikah was silent, almost unmoving, arms crossed. Their silence and general stoic attitude made sense, as they were intended to watch and act from the shadows. Link blinked and reminded himself of the knowledge already in his mind. He knew about the other races, so of course he knew about the Sheikah.

While the next battle began, the robot with the feathers turned to stare at him. Link felt a chill run down his spine. It was sturdy and humanoid, some glass armor casing its limbs. He ignored it, hoping the helmet would hide his discomfort. He had one more fight before Linebeck could check him over. One more and he could leave, get ready for the next three. His discomfort with the others was irrelevant.

When he stepped out into the arena with his next opponent, it was rolling fields with tree stumps. Little coverage. The other robot was thin and wily, with a crossbow and knife. They had such human mannerisms and strategies, but their programming and build made them weak. The match began, and Link immediately brought up his shield to block a bolt aimed for his head. His enemy had limited bolts, so he would have to wait it out. He activated his sword and peered at the robot over the shield and ducked back down as a bolt sailed just above his head.

If he was human, his knuckles would be white from holding onto the shield grip so tightly. The bolts were shot at him with little time in between, and he was quickly getting impatient. Holding on as tight as he could, Link slowly advanced towards the robot, bracing every time a bolt made contact with the shield. With a huff, Link broke into a run and ducked under the next bolt, lunging at the robot and slicing the crossbow in half. His enemy reacted impressively fast- it grabbed its knife and sank it into Link's right shoulder. His arm spasmed, but he managed to plunge his own blade into its chest.

Link straightened up, ignoring the surprising pain from his shoulder. His arm felt numb, but his hand remained closed around the shield grip. The crowd roared their approval, and Link stumbled back to the room, passing by the Sheikah and ignoring their stare. He fell into a daze of sorts while the last matches finished up. He left the knife in his shoulder, not because he forgot, but because he could take it with him.

After the last match, the Sheikah herded the survivors back outside into the sandy, unchanged arena, and announced something about them being the winners who would compete tomorrow. The ringing in Link's ears was worsened by the cacophonous crowd, and he fought the urge to cover his ears. He found and focused on Linebeck and Midna in the crowd, caring little about Ghirahim's absence.

Once the Sheikah finished speaking, Link hurried back into the dark room, where they were then instructed to meet back up with their creators and then return at noon of the next day. Link left as quickly as he could and ripped the knife from his shoulder as he entered back into the city. It was easy to pick out Midna and Linebeck in the crowd, both taller than most everyone else. Waved to them, and they hurried over.

Link handed the knife to Linebeck as Midna grinned and congratulated him. "That was great! I taught you well, eh?"

Link sheepishly smiled, then remembered that they couldn't see his face under the helmet. He moved to take it off, but Linebeck placed his hand on top of it. "Leave it on," he muttered. "You look too human. They'll think you're not a robot."

They moved him into an alleyway, and Link crouched next to a trashcan while he removed his helmet and armor. Linebeck inspected the knife and slid it into his left sleeve. "You made those fights look easy," Linebeck remarked. "And, in a way, with your very advanced design and programming, they were. The next few should be only a little harder. Ghirahim will meet us back at the hotel. He'd with a friend right now. I'll take a look at your shoulder."

Link nodded, sighing to himself. He lifted up the shield, showing it to Linebeck. "Not a dent," he muttered. "It's strange."

Linebeck frowned and looked over the untouched wood surface. "What the... I'll need to thank Damien when I next see him. I'll fix your shoulder and then get to work on something I owe him, so I'm going to swing by his place later today."

Midna crossed her arms, glancing at the people walking by the alleyway. "Let's get back before someone sees us back here."

"Agreed. We look weird."

On the way back to the hotel, the trio caught sight of a pair of Yiga attacking a group of people. The two of them were darting around, scaring and attacking people, but ran off when a group of Sheikah cornered the two of them. Until they reached the hotel, Link found himself anxious of being attacked by the sickle-or-katana-or-bow-wielding masked men. The sky above them all was darkening, and thunder rumbled in the distance as they entered the inn. Rain was pounding against the windows when they greeted Ghirahim in the room.

* * *

Hours passed in near silence. Linebeck repaired Link's shoulder quickly, informing him that it missed everything vital, just that a few very replaceable parts had been pierced. Link rolled his shoulder, relieved of the pain. Midna and Ghirahim had left an hour ago, claiming to have errands they needed to run, and had Linebeck make a list of things he wanted. Link peered up and watched Linebeck peel his leather gloves off and he walked away from him. "You're more comfortable touching people- or, well, me, - when you're wearing gloves."

"Very observant," Linebeck mumbled. He bent down and withdrew a pile of metal parts and wires from a bag. "Skin to skin contact is nigh unbearable, but with cloth in between, I can handle it better. Whatever caused my fear must've included skin-to-skin contact, or perhaps the fact that there's a barrier between the touch makes me less scared. Most often, though, I leave my left glove on to hide the fact that I only have one arm. Not many people know about my prosthetics, and less know about Bellum. An unspoken rule in our group is to not reveal the existence of Bellum until we have decided that the person in question is trustworthy. Damien is the only outlier- I told him without talking to the others, but he's a special case."

Silence filled the air once again, the occasional clanking of metal dotting the lack of noise while Linebeck slowly worked on creating something at the room desk. Link watched him work for a time, his goggles placed over his eyes, Bellum whispering and hovering over the item, his hands moving fluidly and without doubt. Even the most distant of strangers would recognize the skill in Linebeck. His engineering talent seemed to stem from a visceral level, and he never had to dismantle anything. Link had watched him work before, and he had yet to see him dispose of a created machine unless it had no use other than being a project to get his hands moving.

Midna and Ghirahim returned when the storm outside reached its peak, rain pouring against the window and making everything outside a smeared blur. Link found himself drowsy but kept awake long enough to dig through the items Ghirahim and Midna had bought, taking a cup of cold chicken fried rice. He warmed it up and sat idly on his bed to eat it, watching the lethargic movements of his friends.

Link set his utensils on a bedside table and wrapped himself up in a blanket, not bothering to undress except for his shoes. Ghirahim reclined in his own bed with a book, Midna hummed to herself while she made things hover with her magic, and Linebeck's fingers didn't slow as he continued constructing his project, which was now looking like a metal fan.

Midna let her concentration drop along with the floating items. The black and deep blue squares flickering beneath them disappeared, and the wads of paper bounced on the carpet. A quick glance out the window told of the waning storm and the moon high in the sky. And yet Linebeck kept working. Ghirahim and Link were both asleep, and Midna herself fought away yawns. His insomnia forced him cognizant and awake, and therefore perpetually paranoid.

Midna stood up and peered over his shoulder. "You makin' a fan?"

"It's for Damien; his broke. I'll take it over to his place tonight when I'm done."

Midna scowled. "It's almost midnight. You should get some sleep soon."

"I'm not tired."

"Bullshit."

"I'm tired but I won't be able to sleep. Keeping my hands busy and taking this over to Damien's will keep my mind from drifting."

Midna pursed her lips. She couldn't object. When Linebeck was idle at night, with the silence and his inactivity being his companions, his mind often drifted to dark places as nothing else was there to distract him. His habit of constantly working was to combat that, but it also began new habits. The drifting of his mind still happened, but less so. She and Ghirahim had yet to fully understand where Linebeck's mind drifted, but the white bandages usually covering Linebeck's right forearm offered a hint as to what they led to.

Linebeck connected a few wires to the base of the little machine. Midna blinked. "How long have you been working on that thing?"

"Few hours," Linebeck mused. "I already know how to make these. I've done it before. I can do it faster while high, but that's not an option in a shared room."

Midna sighed and rested her elbows on the edge of the table. She tried to stare Linebeck in the eyes, but his goggles were on and he kept his view on the fan parts. "You've got some bad habits, you know?"

"No kidding. Stop bothering me."

Midna set her jaw. "Look. If you wanna break any of these habits, quit brushing the rest of us off. You can't isolate yourself."

"Watch me. What makes you think I want to break these habits, anyways? I can get more done while working like this. Otherwise I have little to do during sleepless nights. Smoking isn't as bad as drinking, and I don't even do that very often. Isolation keeps me safe. Safe from touch, from pain, from conflict."

"You can't escape inward conflict," Midna harshly whispered. "Say what you will, but that stuff will only get worse if you let it."

"Cry me a river. They're my problems, not yours." Linebeck finished the last few wires and clicked a button on the base of the fan. The blades began to spin, and it turned slightly from side to side. He tapped the button a few times, the blades speeding up slightly each time before shutting off completely. Linebeck bent down and hoisted the small bag at his feet up and laid the fan down inside. "See you in the morning."

Midna straightened up. "Be careful," she sighed.

"I will."

She watched him walk away, and couldn't help adding, "Keep an eye out for the Yiga. They lurk in the shadows at night, remember?" She was unable to stop herself from smiling as he faltered in opening the door.


	12. Thinking Between the Fighting

He was back in the dark, dim room with less than half the robots they started with. Link hated the helmet. It felt wrong for something to be so close to his face at all times. Ghirahim had made fun of him for complaining about it earlier that day, mocking him for being afraid of metal so close to his face when he was fighting for his life. Midna had joined in, and the two mercilessly toyed with them until Linebeck had snapped at them to shut their traps.

When they'd woken, they found Linebeck curled up in a cocoon of sorts made up of blankets. He'd muttered to them about Damien not being at his shop the night before but let them know that there was a note on the counter about his not being there. The note had said something about him bringing a commission piece to someone in a different town. Ghirahim had muttered something about Linebeck being a 'lovesick puppy' but quickly shifted to mocking Link not even thirty minutes later.

On the way back to the coliseum, Link asked Midna in an undertone why Linebeck had never mentioned Damien prior to coming to the city for the tournament. She'd simply responded with, "He usually doesn't mention him at all outside the city, but it's not like he forgets about him. The distance between them serves as a reason why they can't see each other, while, in the city, there are plenty of chances, and they've been squandered so far."

He then quietly asked if Linebeck was always so rude and standoffish. "Oh, no," she whispered. "He's livelier with other people, but only because he has the most convincing fake smile you'll ever see. He's a fantastic actor. Otherwise, he's just all tired and grumpy, unwilling to properly socialize with anyone but Bellum."

Link pondered everything he knew about Linebeck while he waited in the dark. There was most certainly something wrong with him, and he didn't seem to be the kind to ask for them. Something lurked under the surface for Midna and Ghirahim as well, but nothing as concerning. A hidden bloodlust for Ghirahim, perhaps, the possibility of knowing more than she let on for Midna. Even Link had hidden levels that he himself didn't know of, and not just lost memories. In that sense, they all had something to hide.

Robots went out to fight the Sheikah robot, and the screens were left blank. Some returned, some didn't. As time dragged on, Link was more and more sure that he was going to be the last one sent out. It was subtle, but the Sheikah that watched them kept glancing at Link. Perhaps because of his skill in the prior fights, or perhaps because of the sword he wielded. Either way, it made Link painfully anxious.

Revali and Ashei's robot survived. The pair of groups had spotted each other in the coliseum once again, and Linebeck actually had to grab Midna by the collar of her cloak to stop her from approaching the Rito. Ashei had only sighed. It seemed that Revali had an ample number of enemies. Now, his gaze slipped to the robot with the feathers, who was huddled in the opposite corner.

By the time Link was sent out to fight the Sheikah robot, he was the last to go. Four robots didn't return, and those that did looked a bit haggard. Many had cuts in their weapons, blackened from heat. The arena was left in its flat, sandy form, and a door on the other side opened. Link immediately got into a fighting stance but relaxed slightly when his opponent scuttled out. It looked almost like a spider- six smooth legs connected to a circular base, and a rounded head of sorts with a small blue eye. Link frowned. There was most certainly something else to this thing. He tried to identify the material it was made of, but he drew a blank. It looked most similar to the stuff Link himself was made of.

It scuttled over to Link and seemed to regard him for a moment. Link apprehensively activated the blade of his sword. The robot seemed to stare at him a moment longer, and the head rose up, and spindly arms with weapons similar to Link's sword revealed themselves. It had a short spear with the head made of the neon blue substance, and a brutal-looking axe with the same glow. The sword was shorter and thinner than Link's, but still looked dangerous.

It clambered towards Link with greater speed, but Link rushed at it first. He swung his sword before it managed to attack in retaliation, and his blade left a shallow cut on the base. Link didn't allow himself a moment of frustration- he jumped back before the axe could slice him in half.

The robot circled him with erratic movements, thrusting the spear at him and swinging the axe if he got too close. The sword remained unused, in the back. Link remained quick on his feet, dodging attacks and not daring to use his shield just yet. The spear nearly brushed his side, and Link jumped at it, bringing the sword down on its head. It swiveled and sprung around, looking stunned. Link managed to get in a number of other slashed before the axe came for his side again.

The crowd was going wild by now. Link focused on staying out of range until there was an opening, then found himself backing up into the boundary walls. The neon spearhead came hurtling at Link's stomach, and he strafed to the side just in time. As the tip of the spear collided with the wall, the entire robot shook with the impact, and Link took the opportunity to drive his blade directly into its eye. Sparks flew from the socket, and a low whirring sound the he hadn't noticed before came to a stop. The arms went limp, blades deactivating, and the crowd screamed their approval.

Link stared at the Sheikah posted around the arena on his way back in. They all wore the same thing- tight suits with sturdy armor and scarves over their mouths, short swords clipped to the backs of their belts. Padding beneath the suit told of extra armor. He strode back into the room, and returned to his seat without a word.

* * *

Ghirahim looked antsy, reclining and stiffly sitting in his seat and peering around. After a while, Linebeck sighed. "What's wrong?"

"Too many Sheikah," he mumbled. "They make me uncomfortable. Like they'll attack. They look like animals ready to pounce."

"True." Linebeck winced as someone walking by got too close. "They're the worst part." At his side, Midna said nothing. She peered around the crowd, her eyes narrowed in what looked to be suspicion. Linebeck's gaze panned over to her, and he huffed. "Why are both of you so nervous? That's my job."

"Something's off," Midna snapped. She stood up, her orange hair whipping around with the movement. "I'm going to take a walk. See ya after the tournament."

"Would it kill either of you to stay for the whole thing?" Linebeck mused.

"Probably."

"I didn't ask for your opinion, chalk-hair. Don't make me burn that stupid suit of yours."

"I'll make you snort the ashes."

"Gladly, dude-" Linebeck suddenly lost his composure and nearly keeled over laughing. Ghirahim joined him, coughing harshly in between laughs, calming down much more quickly. "I-I hate y-you-" Linebeck rasped, straightening up. "Damn, our sense of humor is crude."

Ghirahim chuckled. "You're a strange boy. Why I feel loyal towards you is beyond me." Around them, the crowd cheered for two robots that began fighting. "You betting this time?"

"Nah. Not in the mood. I don't care unless Link is fighting."

"Ah, me too. They're boring otherwise."

Linebeck peered over at the empty seats in front of him and rest his feet on them. "The only fun part is seeing them get ripped apart. The violence entraps everyone. A primal instinct, I suppose. As for you, you're probably a demon, what with your weird non-tattoo markings and your magic and your weirdly long tongue, so I assume you just like conflict." He stripped off his glove and watched his bronze fingers curl and uncurl into a fist. "What do you think Midna's doing?"

"Who cares." Ghirahim sighed, leaning forward as one of the robots was destroyed. "None of our business, hm? We shouldn't pry."

"You're boring."

* * *

Midna strode purposefully around the perimeter of the coliseum, glowering at each Sheikah she saw. What were they doing? Looking out for Yiga? Probably. Unlikely, though. They didn't need to watch the outside. Midna stalked over to one of the white-haired Sheikah, putting on an air of curiosity. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but I'm too curious. What is it that you Sheikah are doing?"

"Watching for Yiga," the girl stated. Her gaze didn't shift. Midna waved a hand in front of her eyes and earned a glare. "You are distracting me."

"There's nothing to watch for. The Yiga don't usually attack crowded places. There are more Sheikah inside, too. Besides, I was attacked along with a friend a week ago and your comrades did nothing but watch."

The girl didn't falter, she didn't hesitate. "Perhaps they didn't notice."

"I've heard rumors of Sheikah ignoring some attacks." It was true. Midna hated gossip, avoided rumor about individuals, but her ears always twitched at the mention of Yiga attacks. People mentioned times when Yiga had cornered them, and a Sheikah had come to their rescue. Other times, there were mentions of Sheikah who only watched- even when someone was injured. Those stories turned Midna's blood to oil that fueled the flames of her anger against the Sheikah.

The girl's eyes narrowed. "I'm... I'm not sure about the others, but I would die to see the Yiga brought down. There's evidence that some have ignored attacks? Shouldn't you be watching the tournament? Why must you talk with me?" She was looking rather angry now.

Midna sighed, holding up her hands. "I'm sorry. This has been bothering me for the past few months. I've tried asking others. Are you comfortable talking with me about the situation between the Yiga and the Sheikah? I want to figure out why some of the Sheikah are slacking, why this whole thing is going on."

The Sheikah sighed and glanced around for a few moments. She ripped her mouth cover down and muttered, "Fine. I want to figure this out. If others are not helping others, I want to figure it out. If I can get some evidence, I'd love to show it to Zelda if I ever get the chance to meet with her." She began to follow Midna, then paused. "You aren't Yiga, right?"

"How do I prove that?" Midna slowly asked, pausing. "I dunno how to reassure you."

"...I'm a new recruit. I can fight you off if needed." The girl sighed. With her mask down, she looked young, soft-faced and uninjured. Her eyes, like the rest of the Sheikah, were red, and harbored a sharpness that didn't match her features. "I'm a believer in honest protection," she hissed. "What do you need?"

"I want to do some digging," Midna murmured. "I might meet with Zelda soon, so I could ask about it later. But, for now, I'd like to ask a few questions."

* * *

Link collapsed on his bench with a heavy sigh, a dull ache in his hips. Had he been human, they'd be bruised- his opponent slammed their claymore against his waist multiple times before getting decapitated. The next few matches would thin the numbers, so he decided to see if he could doze before his next match.

In the crowd, he'd seen something odd with Linebeck and Ghirahim- the two were laughing and conversing rather actively, much differently than both usually acted, more outgoing. Midna was missing, probably attending to some kind of task. Like Ghirahim in the prior day. Seeing Linebeck more outgoing and happier felt right, but he knew that it was fake to some degree. All three of them acted rather strange. The others often called Midna mischievous, but she seemed to be the one looking after the other two, like an older sister. She would make fun of the other two, however, and had a sarcastic edge. On the other hand, Ghirahim had referenced an aimless 'loyalty' of his, and, from what Link had gathered, he was protective of the group, mainly Linebeck.

They seemed to revolve around Linebeck in some way. Even Link did. He was a connection of sorts between all of them.

Link had woken before everyone else that morning and had dug up the history book from their bag. He read through it a bit more and found that a number of pages had been ripped up. Other parts alluded to a 'Legendary Hero', but he'd never found a name or appearance. A prophecy of a cycle of sorts was also mentioned but had been mostly erased. What was left in the book was a simple history. Link had shut the book after everyone else woke and discovered Linebeck looking forlorn in his blankets.

On the way back to the coliseum, they had stopped at Medli's place again, and managed to meet Komali. He seemed a bit rude, but Link found himself wanting to know him better. The Rito boy had stared at him for a few moments, then quietly asked, "You chose to stay with these nerds?" The others didn't react in a negative way, so Link only shrugged.

In hindsight, he didn't really explain his attachment to the others. As he sat in the dim room, robots herded in and out and some never returning, he realized he had little motivation to stay with the others aside from 'They found me'. Link didn't get much of a chance to think on it too much- the Sheikah snapped their fingers in his face. "You're up next," they said. Link glanced past them. Revali and Ashei's robot was the only one left. If it could have facial expressions, Link knew it would be glaring at him.

The arena this time was heavily wooded. The trees were without leaves, presumably so that the audience could see. He and his opponent were given a few seconds to disperse, and Link spent his time running into the small forest and activating his sword. The other robot only had a steel spear. He could try and cut it in half and destroy it from there.

The monotone voice ordered them to begin fighting, and the spindly spear robot lunged at Link from behind a tree. The spearhead slammed into the shield, and Link staggered back. Already, he could tell it would be a tough fight.

* * *

Midna wrote down notes as quickly as she could, clinging onto each of the Sheikah girl's words. "...We're trained to withstand any kind of situation- thunderstorm, snowstorm, fires, floods, extreme heat or cold, windy areas, anything. We focus on defense and chipping away at our enemies. The Yiga are similar, being twisted offshoots, but they are more attack oriented. We're both fast, so we're intensely trained to be faster and prepared for everything."

Midna nodded, and murmured, "Are you told to protect people?"

"We're forced to swear it upon our lives by Impa, who trains us, but we all directly obey Zelda. If anyone is slacking, I want to bring them to Zelda on their knees," she hissed.

Midna raised an eyebrow. They were huddled in an alleyway, and this girl had some kind of pent up hate against the Yiga. "What's your beef with those kinds of people?"

"My father was one of them. When I was just a child, he allowed my mother to be killed by the Yiga, then abandoned us. I had to raise my sister on my own. She's training to be a Sheikah as we speak. I want to weed out everyone who would let innocent lives be lost." She got to her feet and left the alleyway. Midna followed her. "I take it you have some kind of plan."

"Yes," Midna said. "It's... admittedly not very good."

"At least you're willing to take action. What's your plan?"

"If my group's robot wins the tournament, we'll get to meet Zelda in the castle. I can see about Sheikah training and try and see if I can't get in. I want to understand the friction between you and the Yiga. Why do they fight you?"

The girl sighed, glancing up and down the mostly empty street. "We call them a rebellion since they seem to want to overthrow the castle and get rid of the current ruling class. That being Zelda and the rest of the Sheikah." She sighed, cracking her knuckles. Each sharp pop made Midna jump, even as she watched. "They've... never tried to raid the castle. They're smart in that respect. We haven't been able to pinpoint their base, and we've never been able to identify a single member's identity."

"No patterns? No... clues?"

The Sheikah shook her head and crossed her arms. "We've tried in these past 200 years. They seem to try and spread rumors that whatever happened 200 years ago was caused by the Sheikah, but, in truth, no one knows for sure. As far as we know, everyone who lived in the city and surrounding villages 200 years ago were killed."

Midna nodded, jotting down some more notes. "I'll just focus on getting some insight into the Sheikah. Or the Yiga. We'll see what happens after my robot wins." She smiled. "Have you seen his matches?"

The girl frowned. "I watched the matches yesterday. Which was he?"

"With the holo-sword... with the blue blade. Wood shield."

The girl's eyes narrowed. "That's your robot? Where'd you find that sword?"

"Town ruins," Midna said. She slipped the notepad in her pocket and walked away. "See ya around." She waved at the Sheikah while she walked away and sighed inwardly as the girl followed her. "Why are you following me?"

"I need to return to my post."

"Ah. We'll go together then. No questions."

* * *

Link deftly blocked each attack, but never had a chance to catch his breath. The robot facing him down showed no signs of tiring. Link growled to himself, waited for the spear to retract, and jumped back and turned to sprint away into the trees. The dull clunking of his opponent running after him made his heart skip a beat. Spears. Damn spears. Weak, but far too effective. He skidded to a stop and stowed his shield on his back, his sword in both hands.

The spear flew towards his face, and Link dropped down and rolled out of the way. The spearhead sank into the ground by his feet as he got up. He slashed at the robot, taking off a foot, but it balanced evenly on one leg and sent the spear into Link's abdomen. He bit back a scream as very real pain flooded his senses. The spear was embedded deep in his stomach, and the robot began to withdraw it and finish the job.

Link fumbled blindly with his sword and sliced the spear in half, releasing him and allowing him to stagger back. He dug the spearhead out and threw it at his enemy. It dodged nimbly out of the way and discarded the rest of its weapon, tackling Link. It knocked him to the ground, sending another flash of white-hot agony rocketing through his body, and he fended away punches with one hand. His other lay pinned beneath a steel leg, his hand losing its grip on the sword.

With a desperate groan, Link sloppily switched his grip on the sword, and heard a sizzling noise as the blade cut through the robot's leg. It faltered above him, and Link took the opportunity to throw it off it him. It floundered on the ground for only a moment, going limp as the neon blade detached its head. The faint buzzing in his ears muted the crowd's shouts, and he felt himself swim in and out of consciousness. He collapsed once the land around him glowed and turned back to a sandy expanse.

* * *

Ghirahim leaned forward, staring down at the fight below. "Can Link bleed out?" The end of the spear was ripped out by the robot, and he staggered back as the other tackled him.

"He has no fluids that substitute as blood, no." Linebeck idly scratched at his beard. "He has artificial organs, but I doubt any were hit. He'll win because of his sword if nothing else."

The pair of robots struggled on the ground, and they watched Link cut off the other's leg, then decapitated it. Neither Ghirahim nor Linebeck cheered, but Bellum let out a small whoop. The cheering went on for a few moments, and Linebeck hastily whispered, "Is Link swaying?"

"Yes, he is," Ghirahim said, just as Link fell to the ground.

"_Shit_," Linebeck hissed. "If they disqualify him for that-" He got up and vaulted over the empty seats in front of him, weaving through the seats to the exit. Ghirahim sighed and followed after him, shoving aside people who got in his way without a second thought. Down in the arena, the Sheikah gathered up both Link and the damaged robot, staring at Link in a quizzical manner. If memory served correct, both would be brought in and the winner announced by the lone Sheikah.

Across the arena, Linebeck spotted Revali and Ashei making their way down as well, and he practically leapt down the stairs into the dim hallways. It took a bit of running, but Linebeck managed to intercept the Sheikah, who was dragging the pair of robots into the locker room. "Hey! Hey, uh, who won?"

The Sheikah glanced up at him, and gruffly muttered, "The helmeted one would have, if he hadn't deactivated."

"H-he isn't deactivated!"

The Sheikah paused and shot a skeptical glance at the engineer. "Prove it." They let Link fall limp on the floor.

Linebeck jogged over and knelt by Link, feeling around for the console on the back of his neck. "I repaired him," he mumbled. "He just... dozes off, if you will. He's never shut off."

"'He'?"

"...He prefers to be referred to as such." His fingers found a small switch, and he flipped it on, and shut the little door as Link's eyes blinked open. "There we go."

Link peered around, and stared up at the Sheikah, who grunted. "Well, we have a winner then." They looked over at Linebeck. "This is one impressive robot, I must say."

"Thanks, I repaired and restored him."

"A flawless job. Your winnings of one-hundred thousand rupees can be picked up in the Sheikah office down the hall, and you will be told when you can meet with Zelda."

Linebeck blinked. In truth, he'd forgotten that they would have a chance to meet with Zelda. Bellum shot an interested glance back at Linebeck. "Cool," he said, hiding his near overwhelming excitement about the reward money. He helped Link to his feet, fighting back a gag and a shudder at the contact between them and strode off with Link in tow. They ran into Ghirahim, and Linebeck snapped his fingers and pointed at him. "We won."

"Obviously."

"Let's pick up the money and meet up... Somewhere. Somewhere for lunch."

They found the Sheikah office located near the entrance and were mildly surprised to find Midna among the trio of Sheikah inside the dim room. Ghirahim scowled at her. "How did you get in here?"

"I made a friend," Midna smugly said, pointing at a young-looking Sheikah girl. "I take it we won?"

"Obviously," Linebeck sighed. "Have I ever let you two down in these tournaments? My handiwork is always as flawless as Ghirahim likes to pretend he is."

The Sheikah girl besides Midna glanced at her two tribesmen, and then at Linebeck. "You created this robot?"

"Repaired. In truth, I found it in pretty bad shape out in the junkyard."

"I can attest," Midna said. "He showed it to us at first. Awful shape. I didn't expect him to restore it so completely."

The girl nodded, her eyes never leaving Linebeck. "And your prosthetics? Did you create those as well? None of us have any idea how you get such perfect and fluid movement."

Midna, Ghirahim, Linebeck, and even Link froze. "...My what?"

"Your bronze arm and leg."

Linebeck coughed. Those were a secret. If they knew despite that, then he had little reason to trust them. "I... don't know if I created them or not." The truth was ambiguous enough for him to decide it couldn't hurt. "The three of us have amnesia, so we know little about our pasts. We're not here to talk about that, though- we did win, after all."

The pair of Sheikah in the back of the room seemed to sigh. They produced a rather small sack and dropped it on the table, and Midna snatched it up before Linebeck could move. The look she gave him reinforced that he couldn't be trusted to handle the group's money. Link squinted at it, then glanced questioningly at Bellum. The little AI took note of his confusion and said, "It's probably all large red rupees or something more worthwhile. They're small, like little pebbles remember?"

Link didn't dare nod but blinked his appreciation. The pain from the cut in his stomach flashed through him with each step out of the coliseum, but he didn't tell Linebeck about it until they had all of their stuff. He removed his helmet and stowed away the sword and shield once the coliseum was out of sight. "Hey, Linebeck?"

"Mhm?"

"When are you going to repair this hole in my stomach? It hurts a lot."

"Later," Linebeck said, waving a hand. "You can't tune it out?"

"No. It's almost constant, but it's getting easy to ignore." Link crossed his arms over the wound, uncomfortable with the rip in his tunic as well. "I at least need something to put over this."

Linebeck frowned at him, then quickened his pace to walk between Ghirahim and Midna. They were walking with the crowd around them, returning to the city district with all the graffiti. Since they were all adjacent, Link could better compare their heights; Linebeck was the tallest, then Midna, then Ghirahim. Link usually had to look up to make eye contact with any of them. Glancing around, he found himself to be only a small bit shorter than most other Hylians, while other races were closer to the others' heights.

The sound of a protest caught Link's attention, and Linebeck tossed Midna's cloak at him. "Use this," he muttered. Midna looked miffed at the loss of her cloak but said nothing. Link silently resolved to return it at the first convenience as he fastened it around his shoulders. Bellum floated back over to him and quietly said, "We're gonna head to a sushi place, apparently."

"Sounds good."

"Yeah. It's good stuff, according to the others." Bellum started to go back to Linebeck, then paused. "If it was up to me, I'd want to go somewhere that had tougher meat."

"You can't taste stuff."

Bellum huffed and sped back to Linebeck's shoulder. The engineer momentarily glanced down at him, then smiled. Link didn't hear what he said, but assumed it was something about what he'd said. The crowds were smaller in the small square they entered, a fountain with assorted storefronts at the perimeters of the open space. Link walked in the shadows of his friends, nervous of the other people and with the pain jabbing into his stomach.

The place they were looking for was apparently run by yet another Rito- one of Revali's kind, with most of his features being birdlike. Link whispered the restaurant's name, 'The Slippery Falcon', under his breath. Bellum floated back to him and said something about a stupid name and settled on his shoulder. A few lanterns hung from the ceiling, but most light came in through the windows.

They found a table tucked away in a corner, and Midna sat with her back to the rest of the restaurant. She set the sack of rupees on the table and grabbed Linebeck's wrist as he reached for it. "Don't," she said, meeting his dilated eyes. He tugged his hand away with a shudder and sat with his head down as if he were an ashamed child. Midna peered over at Link. "I want my cloak back." He unclasped and handed it to her without a word.

Midna opened the sack and allowed the other to look it. All of them were red, a big larger than a usual rupee. Each was worth two hundred, so, with some quick math, Link muttered, "Five-hundred of those things?"

"Yep. We could divvy it up and each of us could take a hundred and twenty-five, but Linebeck's too good a thief for me to bother." She shot an amused glance at him. "I'll keep it for now. We should pay for lunch with any money we brought before winning. Providing we have money. I have, like, twenty."

"Thirty," Ghirahim offered.

"I spent it on the shield," Linebeck sighed. "I'm broke."

"Of course," Midna said, closing the sack and putting it away. "At least this place is cheap. Link, do you, by chance, have any money?"

"I have a blue rupee," Link said, withdrawing it from his pocket. He set it on the table. Bellum scoffed, and Link resisted the urge to bat him away. "Linebeck, I have a question."

"What?"

"Why is Bellum such a jerk?" An indignant squeak emanated from the AI, and Bellum shot back over to Linebeck.

"Honestly? No idea." Linebeck leaned back in his chair, looking past Midna at the rest of the people inside. "Are we going to get anything?"

Ghirahim shrugged. "I don't care. I'm not too hungry."

"I am," Link softly said.

Linebeck sat up. "You feel hunger?"

"And pain and soreness. No fatigue, but I get reminders that I regularly need to doze off." Link frowned. "I might as well just be alive, with this level of detail."

Linebeck stood up and gestured for Link to do the same. "Cool. I have some parts. If you'd like, I could try and fix a little bit of that cut. We can do it out the back," he muttered, pointing at the exit.

Link followed him out and into a back alley, where he sat against the wall with his tunic pushed up. Linebeck looked just as uncomfortable as he felt, with his hands flinching away from Link's wound if he moved too suddenly. He had a small bag of parts with him and promised to assess the damage and close it up until they get back to the inn. Link pursed his lips, trying to avert his eyes, but he eventually sighed. "I'm kinda uncomfortable with this."

"Why? I repaired you while you were nude like, two weeks ago."

"No, no, no, it's not that. I'm uncomfortable with my win. Those Sheikah guys are pretty shady. I'm worried about meeting Zelda."

"Me too. Let's not dwell on it." Linebeck flinched as a cat hopped out from behind a trashcan and knocked it over before sprinting to the street. "Anything else?" He took a needle and some black string from the bag.

"Uh. I dunno."

"Cool. I've got a question of my own. Have you ever felt attracted to anyone since waking up?" Link only blinked, twitching as two robotic fingers slid into the wound. "Any men, women, other? Or is it too difficult a question?" The fingers withdrew and he got to work on stitching up the torn skin. "Is it a hard question?"

Link slowly asked, "How did you know that you were in love with Damien?"

"...We'd known each other for a few months, and we considered each other to be very good friends. I found myself feeling safe around him, trusting him with small touches, and I found a lot of enjoyment in watching him work. Just the thought of him made me happy, and that was about when I realized something was up. I told Damien about it, and, over the course of a few days of talking and spending more time together, we realized that we were in love. It wasn't anything drastic and fast, just a slow realization. Have you ever heard of 'love at first sight'?"

"Yeah."

"I think that's bullshit. That's lust rather than love. You can't properly love someone without properly knowing and trusting them. Deciding that you love someone on first sight is, while still attraction, essentially lust."

"You have a lot of time to think about these things, huh?" Link asked, aware of the twinkle in his own eyes. "I don't think I've felt lust. I don't think I can, to be quite honest, but I haven't had much time. We'll be walking in the streets and I'll see a woman and think 'wow she's beautiful' or see a man and think 'wow he's handsome' but I doubt I've felt any actual attraction." Link let his tunic fall into place once Linebeck finished stitching him up.

"That makes sense," Linebeck murmured. "I can see a handsome man on the streets and feel a twinge of attraction, talk with some guy for a day and want to get to know him better. I'd say the longing to be with someone in a romantic manner is a different kind of attraction than lust. Seeing someone and thinking they're good-looking for a fleeting moment isn't really an indicator of love."

"You don't think?" Link asked.

"Yep. For example. I think Midna is gorgeous- and she is. A knock-out beauty, and you know you agree. She's hands-down one of the best-looking women I've seen."

Link frowned. "But you don't like women."

"I'm gay, not _blind_," Linebeck snapped, getting to his feet. "You get my point, though, right?" He glanced around for a moment, locating Bellum hovering over the knocked over trashcan. "We should get back inside before someone sees us back here."

Link nodded, straightening his tunic. "I do have another question, though."

"Shoot."

"Do you feel like this group relies on you? Push aside any ego you have and think about it. It seems like we all... are connected by you. You seem more important than the rest of us, with more to you."

Linebeck shrugged. "I'll think about it."

They walked back out into the bright street, garnering a few odd glances, but no other attention from that. Linebeck sighed to himself, Bellum zooming around his head in quick circles. The calm they both felt was shattered by shouts and screams from the restaurant, a few people running out. Link sprinted in, his artificial heartbeat practically skyrocketing.

As he both dreaded and expected, five Yiga soldiers were inside the restaurant, terrorizing patrons. Ghirahim had his own sword at the ready and was immediately exchanging blows with one of the sickle wielding Yiga. Midna was without her spear, but still urged people to run, fending off an attacking Yiga as best she could. Link ran in and was immediately tackled by a Yiga with a katana aimed for his throat.

Link did his best to kick his attacker off, their mask the same as the others, a hood over their head and a distinctive long black scarf tied around their neck. Without a proper weapon, Link resorted to shoving and kneeing in the groin, with no avail or progress. Whoever this guy was, they were strong, taking every hit with minor grunts and flinches. The katana blade neared his throat, and a knife was suddenly flying through the air at the Yiga. The only reason it didn't end up three inches into their skull was because they disappeared in a cloud of paper amulets a heartbeat before impact.

Link scrambled to his feet, breathing a quick 'thanks' as Linebeck rushed over to retrieve his knife. Ghirahim had managed to get rid of three of the other Yiga, so the last sickle-wielding ninja was locked in a swift melee with him. It was a close fight, but Ghiram nearly thrusting his blade into their abdomen forced them to disappear away.

The shopkeeper shakily peered over his counter, and the rest of the people inside and immediately outside the restaurant looked shaky. Their eyes locked on the four, and Midna strode by Link, grabbing his shirt collar. Ghirahim followed suit, and Linebeck grabbed their bag and stuff before racing after them. No words were spoken on the way back to the inn, but it was obvious that they had been shaken by the abrupt attack.

* * *

Linebeck silently repaired Link's shoulder and reclined in bed for the rest of the night. Ghirahim was antsy, and Midna scribbled in a notebook. The entire group was quiet, almost thoughtful after their ruined lunch. Link sat on his bed, then slowly asked, "Why do you think they attacked?"

"They like to cause chaos," Ghirahim muttered.

"No, no..." Link frowned. "I get the feeling they were targeting us."

Midna nodded. "Yeah. Its makes sense for them to try and eliminate the winners of the tournament, since we're going to end up meeting Zelda, too. I wonder if she'll have us do something about them."

"Makes sense," Linebeck sighed. "Though, what could we do? If the Sheikah, a highly trained army of ninjas, can't do anything, then how can a group made up of a narcissistic demon, an admittedly level-headed whatever-the-hell-Midna-is, a depressed and self-deprecating engineer, and then some 200 year-old robot." Linebeck sat up and glanced at them all. "But, hey, who knows. We're something new."


	13. The Queen in her Castle

**A/N**

**Chapter names are hard. Or maybe I'm just bad at them.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter, I feel like it's the first actual step into the main plot. **

* * *

Impa strode up the stairs with a purpose, eyes darting from side to side. She watched each Sheikah guard that she passed, and they nodded with respect at their former mentor. She was a stern and tough-looking woman, old scars decorating her face and a certain fire blazing in her eyes. Everyone knew to respect her.

She emerged onto the main balcony connected to the castle's main study. The moonlight shone down on the city below, and Impa stood by Zelda without a word. The queen was silent, as she always was, looking down at her city and the lights flickering in the buildings' windows. Impa glanced over at the queen, at her pale skin and blonde hair. "...You're up rather late."

"I'm thinking," Zelda slowly said, her sky-blue eyes flicking over to meet Impas'. Her expression was impassive, but something danced in her eyes. "Did you learn about the team that won the tournament?"

Impa nodded. "There are a number of mysteries around their robot. They got attacked by the Yiga yesterday as well."

Zelda slowly nodded. "Yiga attacks are common. Has anyone been killed by the Yiga?"

"...Only interfering Sheikah soldiers. They have yet to kill a citizen." Impa shifted from foot to foot. "There are also rumors of some Sheikah ignoring attacks. A soldier of mine came to me with concerns on that subject. One of the winning team's members asked her about it. This winning group seems that they may have good intentions. They'll be allowed to stay for a few days, correct?"

Zelda nodded. She seemed aloof. "Have my personal guards prepare."

"You have a list of what to tell them and what to ask them?"

"Yes." A new light danced in Zelda's eyes as she crossed her arms. "Too think that it would be _them_..."

"Hm?"

"Have you done your research on these people?"

Impa shrugged. "I suppose. Only one of the three of them has a recorded last name, and their robot seems to be nameless."

"What are their names? I forgot."

"...Midna is the woman in the group, and she doesn't seem aware of what she is. Oddly enough, Ghirahim, the demon, is among them. The most mundane is their Hylian engineer, Linebeck. His last name is Lancrester, but he's the first recorded person with that last name since the disaster two centuries ago. It may be a pseudonym. They... they refer to their robot as 'Link'. They've been passing him off as human to citizens, perhaps to avoid thievery or... something like that. You could ask them about that."

A thin smile spread across Zelda's face. "Of course. I'll be sure to ask them each a few questions. For now, we should prepare." She turned and strode away, leaving Impa in the moonlight.

* * *

Link was practically dragged out of bed by Ghirahim and Midna, Bellum providing running commentary in the background while Linebeck twirled a cigarette between two of his fingers. It was an odd first minute of consciousness, and he understood when he realized it was late morning. They needed to figure out the circumstances of getting to the castle. He was forced to get ready in under a minute, then dragged out of the inn room by his overenthusiastic friends.

There were less people than they thought would be out in the streets. Midna pulled aside one of the tall Gerudo and asked about the lack of people. She quickly said that there had been a string of Yiga attacks in the night and that many people were nervous. Midna then asked her where the castle was, and she pointed them in the right direction. Link wrung his hands and glanced around while they walked through the quiet city.

"What do you think Zelda's like?" Link softly asked. "I've never seen her."

"None of us have actually met her," Midna mused. "She is beautiful, though. Looks a bit like you, with pale skin, blue eyes, blond hair. We might meet Impa, the official leader of the Sheikah, first though."

"Why?"

"She acts as Zelda's retainer, protecting and obeying her every moment of the day." Linebeck removed his cigarette from his mouth and peered at the burning end. "They're probably very close." He set it between his teeth and glanced sidelong at Bellum, who had been silent since Link was dragged out of the room.

The one who looked the least happy was Ghirahim, kicking at stray newspapers and pebbles. He had his sword clipped at his belt, as if expecting to fight. His gaze was flicking from side-to-side, and his kept brushing his hair out of his eyes to better look around. Link decided that it was best to ignore him. After some time of silence, Linebeck diverged from the group and walked practically half a block behind them while the rest of them talked. Link peered after his shoulder and found that he was talking with Bellum.

"...So I doubt you'd be let in."

Midna crossed her arms. "They only employ those from Kakariko?" She pursed her lips, then blinked. "I should've realized. I forgot that the Sheikah are also a race in their own rights..." She laughed weakly.

Link frowned. "But the Sheikah are Hylian."

"Ah, they are," Ghirahum mused, "But there's a crucial difference. They're a different type of Hylian. They always have white hair and red eyes without fail. History implies that the red eyes took time to be consistent, but they are more naturally agile and sneaky."

"Do robots count as a race?" Link asked, spotting a small cafe with a sign advertising robot staffing. "I mean, they're created by everyone else and then used by them. We're practically like items."

"I'd say it depends on who you ask," Midna said. They were only a few blocks from the castle now, walking right towards the ruined castle town. "If you were to ask any Goron, they'd say that they consider robots to be another race."

Link nodded, thinking of the burly, rocky-backed race. He'd had yet to talk with a Goron, but they all seemed friendly. All of the other races were nice to him. "...What about the others?"

"The Gerudo are split, older women thinking of them as tools, younger girls accepting them as another race. It's similar with the Zora. Most of the Rito accept them as well. We dunno about the Sheikah, but those in Kakariko village actively live among them." Midna smiled to herself. "We should take you some time! It's really cool."

That did certainly sound interesting. Link slid his hands into his trouser pockets and nodded to himself. They were close to the ruin's gates, now. A pair of Sheikah were perched on the ends, glaring down at them like gargoyles. They didn't move as the group neared them. Linebeck jogged up to rejoin the group and shot an anxious glower up at the Sheikah.

The Sheikah did nothing as they walked past some blackened ruins and pushed the heavy metal gates open.

They opened into what could be described as a burnt mess. It was obvious that the former castle town had be prosperous and lively, with large wooden and metal buildings. Now, what they saw was twisted metal and charred wood heaps, ruins collapsed into the old cobblestone streets. For a moment, Link looked up at the Sheikah and wondered why they never rebuilt it. Peering back at the castle, it was evident that some parts of the marvelous stone building were still caved in and broken. Even after 200 years, it seemed that even the Sheikah were having a hard time rebuilding.

The two Sheikah hopped down from their perches and followed them. Linebeck was obviously nervous, rubbing at the back of his neck and covering his eyes with his goggles. Ghirahim walked with his chin up, almost defiant. Link and Midna exchanged a curious glance and turned their gazes to a balcony opening to the rest of the city. Someone stood there, looking down at them. They had white hair- another Sheikah.

The two Sheikah shadowing them herded them onto a cobblestone bridge over a moat of murky water. There was no wind, and no birds flew above the castle. The Sheikah on the balcony turned and walked into the castle once Link's group reached the castle gates. Link stared up at the symbol carved onto the metal and wood gates, the wingcrest and the Triforce. The stone gates curled around the entire perimeter of the castle.

The castle courtyard was much nicer- green and grassy, a large garden with trees and flowers and all kinds of plant life. A few other Sheikah were seen tending to the plants.

They stopped at a small stone gazebo in front of the castle's main entrance. Sitting at a table in the middle was a woman with ling blonde hair, watching them approach. She had a thin smile on her face. Something about her made Link nervous. He knew that she was Zelda before she introduced herself. "You are the winners, but I've never seen a robot with such fluid movement and skill."

She glanced over at Link, who did his best to remain impassive. Zelda then looked at the other three in turn, one by one. "Did you create him?"

"We found him," Ghirahim said. "He repaired him," he pointed at Linebeck. "He's our engineer. So, uh... what does all of this entail?"

Zelda pursed her lips, blinking slowly. "Admittedly, I've never seen a robot as advanced as this one. Even ones that the Sheikah spend months on have strange movements." She smiled again. "On the other hand, congratulations once again. It's rare for anyone to get to come into the castle. I was almost certain that that Hylian girl and her Rito companion would win." She got to her feet, eyeing the two Sheikah. "You may leave." They nodded and silently left.

Link peered at the others. Midna was wearing a blank expression, but there was interest in her eyes. Ghirahim was frowning, arms crossed. Linebeck still had his eyes covered by the goggles, Bellum hovering motionlessly at his side. Zelda grinned again. "You're certainly an odd group. I can take it you're all a bit nervous. I am a bit of a recluse queen, after all. I'll show you to your rooms, and then give you a tour of the castle. You'll be allowed to stay for a week. Follow me, please." She gestured for them to follow her. Link grabbed onto Midna's jacket sleeve and allowed her to tow him along with the others.

They entered into the silent main hall of the castle, a near-cavernous hall with tapestries with woven scenes of places at the edges of Hyrule. One was a mountain of types, another a village nestled in grassy hills. In the back of Link's mind, he hoped that they were real. Linebeck was walking more slowly, staring up at them, and Ghirahim had his burning glared trained on Zelda's back. Midna allowed her gaze to travel. The blue carpet they walked on was lightly embroidered with gold threads. They were alone in the hall.

Link pondered whether or not he should talk. The others cautioned him against it. He kept his mouth shut while they walked. As they left the entrance hall, Link found himself envying Bellum- able to speak with only a single person hearing, a secret to everyone else. That kind of life sounded lonely, though. The doorway opened into a courtyard within the castle, a number of Sheikah soldiers in the middle of training not even stopping to look at the newcomers.

Link grabbed onto Midna's sleeve with his other hand. He felt nervous and decided that she was the safest place for him during the tour. The others relaxed as Zelda showed them around the castle, explaining the uses for the rooms. The enormous library that Midna almost lost herself in, the armory and blacksmith that they had to drag Ghirahim out of, the workshop and tech lab that Linebeck could just barely force himself away from. Link didn't find too many of the extravagant rooms too interesting but wanted to run down the halls and find the unrepaired areas, the places that were caved in and broken, like the world outside.

Zelda seemed aloof, but also hyperattentive. She seemed aware of everything they did, her eyes following every movement. She certainly had an air of royalty and professionalism along with responsibility, but also loneliness. Not loneliness in the sad way- loneliness in the way that she wasn't used to other people. There was a noticeable lack of servants aside from the Sheikah. Each hallway was lit by an orange-glowing electronic light. The material holding each light in place seemed similar to what Link was made of.

They were showed the long dining hall, a few guard houses and the guard's chambers. Both were empty, and Zelda informed them that it was because the Sheikah usually only returned to their chambers to rest. She took them through assorted halls and showed them to a number of balconies. Not once did Link see the Sheikah woman that had watched them enter.

"We have a couple rooms that you can use," Zelda offered, leading them to the eastern wing of the castle. "However, two of them have enough space for all four of you. You may decide."

"We'll stick together," Ghirahim muttered. His voice was less hostile than Link expected, and he was grateful for his obvious restraint. "Do those rooms have four beds?"

Zelda nodded. "Yes, one for each of you." She glanced over at Link. "You do sleep, correct?"

Link blinked. He slowly nodded.

"Good. I'll allow you the rest of the day to yourselves. What exactly do you want to achieve here? You may leave early, but that's up to you."

"We're just curious about what we could learn, y'know?" Midna's smile was genuine.

* * *

"Don't like her," Ghirahim muttered.

"Why?" Midna asked, tossing a pillow at him. The room they had been allowed to stay in was spacious and perfect for the four of them. It was lit by electric lights much like the ones outside. Linebeck had managed to pry one out of the ceiling to inspect. Each bed was large with three blankets draped over the comfortable mattress, a pair of bedside tables on each side of each bed. Midna slid off her bed and met Ghirahim at the table in the middle of the room. "She was nice, man. You were an asshole."

The demon scoffed. "Something seemed off. What do you think, Linebeck?"

"Seemed fine to me," Linebeck said, scratching at the lamp's material with his razor. "I'm going to check out that lab later today. It looked pretty cool. What about the rest of you?"

"I'm going to check out the training grounds," Ghirahim sighed. "Maybe teach the Sheikah here a few new lessons in swordplay. Wanna come with, Link?"

"Sure. How..." Link wrung his hands, sitting up in his bed. "How should I act? Zelda seems to know that there's more to me than there appears. We can't keep doing this. I mean, you've introduced me as human to some people, while as a robot in the tournament. That's not going to last long."

He smiled weakly, uncomfortable as all eyes were on him. All gazes then turned to Linebeck. The engineer blinked. "What."

Ghirahim sighed. "You found and repaired him. You decide."

"Uh. Let's keep it a secret, but don't act like it's a secret. If someone asks if he's a robot, just agree and go on with it. Act like we expect everyone to think he's a robot without telling them." Linebeck poked the glass of the lamp. "Whatever. Just be careful about it." He waved his hand dismissively. He had taken off his coat and rolled up his sleeves, so a good portion of his robotic arm was visible. The bronze-colored wires and strips of metal covering inner wiring and mechanisms glinted in the light.

Link glanced over at Midna. "What are you gonna do?"

She shrugged. "I'll look around a bit more. I'll maybe check out the library. Who knows?" Midna reached up and tugged her cloak hood over her head. "Maybe I'll sneak around a bit. Maybe I can see if I can out sneak the Sheikah, eh?"

"Don't make a fool out of yourself," Ghirahim snapped. He pulled his saber from the bag on the table and threw the wooden sword at Link. "Let's go. I'm tired of being around you nerds." Link nodded and slid off his bed, leaving the room at Ghirahim's heels. Link left the sword at his belt and stared around the hall as they exited the eastern wing.

"Do you remember where the training grounds were?"

Ghirahim shrugged. He hopped down the last few steps, nudging the carpet with his foot. "We can just wander." He peered down the hall. "Maybe we can find something she doesn't want us to find."

Link scowled. "Why are you so insistent about being suspicious about Zelda?" He peered out any windows they passed, catching glimpses of the city or the junkyard outside. "She's been nice. It's a little off, but you're just going to cause us all a bunch of anxiety." He went silent as a pair of Sheikah soldiers walked by them. He waited until he couldn't hear their footsteps before continuing. "I think the grounds are down the left hall, then a pair of rights."

Ghirahim scowled. "Such a stickler for the rules."

"What-"

"Let's wander. I'd like to see every nook and cranny of this place. You do want to explore it, correct? C'mon, have a sense of adventure."

Link said nothing and sighed, understanding that he no long had the ability to disagree. It would be a time waster, at least. He could find something interesting, maybe. Something to provide a hint to his past.

* * *

Linebeck tossed the lamp at Midna. "Any thoughts?"

She shrugged and turned it over in her hands. They'd managed to figure out how to turn it on and off, connecting and disconnecting a pair of wires from the base. "It's like the stuff Link's made of, right?"

"Yeah," Linebeck muttered. "Same black smooth shit, with the blue or orange glowing. In Link, it mostly serves as poles or beams to hold things in place, a few times in the shapes of bones and such. It covers his artificial heart and artificial brain. He's got a few weird 'organs' but those are the only ones cased in this Sheikah stuff."

Midna nodded and poked at the casing around the actual light. "What do you think this stuff is?"

"Reinforced fiberglass, I bet, who knows."

She set the lamp down. "Do you think Link was made by the Sheikah?" It was a theory that had been on her mind since they found him. He was so complicated and well made, but it would be a bit problematic if he was Sheikah made. If he was, the Sheikah could possibly make him work for them.

Linebeck shook his head, to her relief. "Nope. Have you seen their robots? None of them are human like. They are entirely made of this stuff. Link is a mixture of so many different things, a unique style. His creator may have had relations with the Sheikah, but the steel, bits of wood, fabric, and even some rubber implies that they worked on their own." He crossed his arms and walked away from the table. He was silent for a few moments, perhaps listening to Bellum. He sighed to himself. "I'm going to check out that lab now." He swept his coat up off his bed and made for the door. "See you later."

He shut the door quietly behind him. Midna seemed awfully interested in the library, telling him about what she hoped to find. For a moment, Linebeck considered going there himself to see what he could find for her but decided against it. His curiosity over the lab was overriding all of his other thoughts.

It took some wandering and directional prodding from Bellum, but Linebeck managed to find the lab, a bunch of connected rooms with Sheikah milling around. He kept his goggles down around his neck and waited at the door for a few moments. The first room was dimly lit, but the blinking lights of the robots and creations added light. He slid his hands into his pockets and walked in, stopping to peer at a little spider-like machine.

A hand settled on his shoulder and a jolt of panic rushed through him. Linebeck flinched away and whipped around to face one of the Sheikah scientists. She peered up at him with mild interest. "You look very interested in our inventions."

"Y-yeah. Cool stuff. I do some inventing myself. P-please don't touch me."

"I apologize. You have an aversion to touch?"

"Aphenphosmphobia. I'm Linebeck. Nice to meet you."

"And you. I'm Impa. I'm the supervisor and mentor of most of the Sheikah here." She had the white hair and red eyes of the rest of the Sheikah. Her hair was pulled back into a bun while a few strands were left to dangle before her eyes. Some red markings were painted around her eyes. "I've heard quite a bit about the things you've created."

Linebeck raised an eyebrow. "You have? Most of my stuff is little things that help with daily life. Yeah, I've competed with larger robots, but that's not often."

Impa frowned. "I believe you misunderstand. For someone to catch my attention is rare. Your skill is enough to rival ours, and you are only one man. Do you believe that there may be a possibility that you created your prosthetics?"

"Probably." Linebeck instinctively reached up to the little bit of metal and wiring behind his ear. "It's similar to my own style of creating humanoid robots. I'm not sure. I can't remember anything past last year. None of us can, so no point prying us open for details about our origins."

"Ah, Zelda is the one who would ask questions." Impa peered around for a moment, at the other Sheikah and what they were working on. "Do_ you_ have any questions?"

Linebeck frowned. He glanced away and peered at some other spider-like machines across the room. "What's with the obsession over spider robots?" He walked over and picked up one of the smaller ones. "Pretty much all of the robots you guys have released and showed to people have averaged around six legs."

Impa only shrugged. "It's an old design that we've been using for years. I could show you how we made some, if you'd like. I'd like to see how you create machines as well." She walked by him, pushing aside a few items. "Spend as much time as you want here. You and your friends earned it, of course."

"Obviously," Linebeck muttered, stepping away from her. He gathered a few screws and springs in his hands. "I've found these in the junkyard. Do you make them?"

"We find them, like you. We have blueprints for things we don't have the ability to create or translate. A few of them are so old that we can't make out the instructions." Impa sighed. "No matter. That's not important. Are you aware of what that sword your robot uses is?"

"Not in the slightest." If he up and left, that would be rude. He had no choice but to stay until she left.

"It's a very old, powerful weapon. We call them guardian swords, as boring as that might sound. The one your robot uses is the most powerful out of the set of three."

Linebeck weakly smiled. "Well, we're lucky, then." He needed to find those blueprints. He could see if Bellum could decipher any of them. The locks on the doors looked easy to pick, anyways. There were at least five different lockpicks stored in the back of his aluminum hand.

Not even five minutes later, Impa began asking about his arm and leg again. The first lie was that they were made of bronze rather than the three actual materials. The second was that the foot had five toes. Why she needed to know that, he didn't know. In reality, it had six toes. Both feet had six toes- whether or not he had twelve total before losing his leg was an idea he liked to play with. He then lied about Bellum. "The chip behind my ear?"

"Yes," Impa murmured. "Does it have any other use other than your limbs?"

Bellum froze in the air. He shot an obviously desperate glance at Linebeck. It took a degree of self-control for Linebeck not to look at him. "Not that I know of, no." Lying was easy.

* * *

Ghirahim practically shoved Link into the training grounds. "Spar with me. I want to see if anything's changed after the tournament." He unsheathed his own sword and swung it around a few times. The training grounds were open to the sky, and about as a large as the tournament coliseum. A few other Sheikah were present, sparring with one another with spears and katanas. Others were practicing archery. They didn't even watch while the newcomers faced off in the middle of the grounds.

Link looked over the wood sword for a moment, then glanced up at Ghirahim. "Please don't break this one. Y'know, we could've brought the other metal sword."

Ghirahim scowled. "What's the fun in that? This'll force you to be more careful." A thin smile spread across his face. "Let's begin, shall we?" He lunged towards Link and sent his blade for his chest. Link stumbled back and pulled his sword closer to his chest, then retaliated with a quick thrust as Ghirahim brought his own weapon back. The tip just barely missed him as he twisted gracefully out of the way, settling back into a nearly relaxed posture, sword held out in front of him.

It was similar to the night on the inn roof- they sparred rapidly, trading blows and dodging attacks. None of the Sheikah stopped to watch. Link let his sword fall to the ground once they stopped, and even Ghirahim looked a little winded. "Thanks, I suppose." He returned his sword to his scabbard and began to walk away. "I assume it's almost lunch time, but you decide what you want to do."

Link scrambled to his feet and followed after Ghirahim. "I'll come with you," he murmured. "I'll check out the rest of the castle on my own later tonight."

Ghirahim huffed. "Fine. Follow me around like a little duckling. I'm flattered that you trust me enough to tag along at my heels."

Midna was still at the room when they returned, and she reported that Linebeck was checking out the lab. Ghirahim reminded her that it was nearly noon, and the three of them decided to set out an find the kitchens. Link pitched the idea of getting Linebeck from the labs, but Ghirahim only muttered that he routinely skipped lunch. Worry wormed into his mind, but Link went silent.

The dining hall and kitchen were both large rooms, so the three of them needed a moment to take it all in. Ghirahim recovered the quickest, uttering something about it all being unnecessary and over-conceited, but it was still obvious that he was amazed. The chandeliers above the long table in the dining hall were made of a shiny metal, colored bead handing from the lights. The kitchen itself was clean, looking surprisingly professional.

Those in the kitchen were the first servants they'd seen, wearing simple tunics and tags to show they worked for the queen. It was fast- they were asked how they were, and what food they wanted. After putting in their individual orders, they were ushered out of the kitchen. "Maybe we weren't actually allowed in," Link mused.

"Zelda would've told us that," Ghirahim muttered. "I'll admit, this place is pretty nice." He set his hands on his hips and peered down at himself. "I bet it's pissing some of them off to have someone like me in here." He smiled to himself, and Link couldn't help but agree. What, with his ash-colored skin, shirt and pants with holes deliberately ripped in them, he probably looked like some kind of bandit. He was certainly on the precipice of acting the part.

They settled down in some of the wood chairs. Link tested the cousion a few times. "This is a lot nicer than the rest of the city. Are the other towns like this? Aside from the holes, it seems like nothing happened."

Midna shrugged, tugging at the tablecloth. "The Sheikah favors the royal family, so of course they'd care about the castle getting rebuilt. The other towns are fine, since they were spared of the disaster, but the heat and decline in animals and crops makes it hard. The city is good at keeping up an illusion of having enough food, but they're always on the brink. I've done my research, though- it's getting better."

Link frowned. "It can't be good that the Sheikah are only caring about Zelda."

"The Sheikah in Kakariko Village are much more broad-sighted. They're like two different factions." Ghirahim reclined in his chair. "I'm surprised there's peace between them."

They froze when Linebeck walked into the room. "Didn't think you'd show up," Midna exclaimed.

"I don't like getting bothered while doing work," Linebeck muttered. "They let me try and recreate one of those little spider robots but kept hovering over my shoulder and stuff. Kept touching me, too. I'm just wandering. Are you guys going to get food?"

"We're waiting for it," Link mumbled.

Linebeck nodded and looked over at Midna. "Did you ever go to the library?"

"Not yet. I'll do it later."

"Oh." Linebeck sat down in a chair by them. "It's weird. Being in a place like this. I feel out of place. It's a good opportunity to get some information, though." He rested his feet on the table and crossed them at the ankles. "I've got the chance to steal some cool stuff from the labs. What did the Sheikah think of your moves, Ghirahim?"

"They didn't watch," Ghirahim snapped, following his words with a dramatic sigh. "They have no taste for talent, of course. Tragic, really. It was a good fight between Link and I and everything, and not one of those lost souls glanced over." He leapt off his seat and punched at the air. "It infuriates me, knowing that some ignore my talent! How dare they?!" He shadowboxed while the others watched for a few moments, stopping only once a pair of servants exited the kitchen. "Oh."

One of them spoke. "Your food is ready."

* * *

The next few hours were relaxing for the others. They mostly stayed in the room, happy with what they'd seen. Closer to late afternoon, Midna prepared to leave to the library, but a messenger arrived at their room. It was the same Sheikah girl that Midna had become friends with. She quietly announced that Zelda wished for them to have dinner with her later that night, and that she would also speak to each of them individually at different parts during the week.

Late afternoon came quickly enough, and the group made their way back down to the dining hall. Link walked by Linebeck on the way there. "Uh." Linebeck glanced questioningly down at him. "How are you making sure that Rusty is okay while away from him?"

"Every so often, a thing I built will dispense dead flies and some water. I picked up parts and flies during the first city visit and set it up before coming here again."

"That's cool."

Dinner was interesting. Link tried to stay silent the entire time, sitting by Midna, but Zelda managed to pry his mouth open and hear his voice. She spoke of her own experiences with the rest of the city and of her interest in the group. She didn't eat very much, though. She moved the cut-up bits of steak around her plate. "It's very rare for a group like you to catch my eye, since I'm usually pretty cooped up in here. Your robot... Link, was it? He is also very complex... I'm impressed by how you managed to get him working."

Linebeck glanced up slightly. He hadn't eaten anything on his place and had been subtly giving some of it to Ghirahim. "I am a very talented engineer. I doubt you'd be able to find anyone as skilled as me in the city."

Zelda nodded. "I'm sure. On the other hand... Midna! You can do magic, correct?"

Midna nodded quickly. "Yeah! Not much but, it's something. Ghirahim can, too, we're both working on figuring out what we can do."

Link sighed and slumped in his chair. Zelda asked him a few questions during that time, but he felt that she still just saw him as a tool. She did ask him about how he could eat- Linebeck happily gave her his theory on how it worked. The rest were eager to keep talking with Zelda, but Link found himself becoming bored. He cleaned his plate as quickly as he could and politely dismissed himself.

A number of doors led out onto a long balcony outside the dining hall. One end of it turned into a road back to the main part of the castle grounds. Link sighed to himself, leaning over with his elbows on the railing. Bellum hovered around his head. "You seem tired of something."

"I dunno," he sighed, waving the little AI away from his face. "I can see that the others are enjoying themselves."

Bellum huffed. "You had fun today, too. It's the first day."

Link laughed weakly. "I know, I know. I just feel a bit tired today. This is a really good opportunity to learn about my past, if possible."

Bellum blinked. "We're both very advanced."

"Hm?"

"Our tech. We're both way ahead of what's here. Same with Linebeck's prosthetics. Hey, do you wanna hear my theory about Linebeck and the others' pasts?"

"Oh, that sounds cool." Link held out his hand and allowed Bellum to hover ever so slightly above his palm.

"Well," he began. "It's mostly about Linebeck, but whatever. They obviously knew each other. With all the tech he's created and repaired... I think the three of them found something about 200 years ago. I think they were exploring the world to find out what happened, and something made them lose their memories. But, I think, in the process, they found some old tech and Linebeck managed to figure out how to use it. Hence, my existence and his prosthetics. Midna and Ghirahim have less interesting clues about their possible pasts, but we know they're connected. What do you think?"

"That's..." There was a moment of silence, and then a big smile broke across Link's face. "That's a great theory! You should tell the others. If they were to try and figure out about their own pasts with that theory, maybe it would help!"

They both went quiet, turning their attention to the moon on the horizon. There were still traces of daytime, but the moon was already coming up. The slight sound of paper flapping in the wind and soft footsteps urged Link to glance over his shoulder. "Yeah-" He stumbled away just in time as the blade of the axe buried itself a good few inch into the stone.

Link whipped around, automatically assuming a battle stance. The Yiga warrior pulled his axe from the stone with little effort. The handle was slightly curved, the head one-bladed, large and curved. The Yiga moved quickly, aiming to lop Link's head off. The robot ducked just in time and moved to sweep his legs out from under him, but the Yiga disappeared in a cloud of paper amulets. He reappeared by Link's side. He swung the axe like it weighed nothing, and Link ducked once again and backed off. "What- who are you?!"

The fight was fast, and Link could do nothing but dodge. This Yiga- wearing the usual mask and donning crimson dyed slacks and a coat, was silent as he repeatedly aimed to destroy the robot before him. A muted clattering from inside caught the attention of both of them, however, and they paused to turn their gazes to the dining hall.

The doors had been flung open, Ghirahim leading the so-called charge. All four of them- Ghirahim, Linebeck, Midna, and Zelda- had looks of shock and fear in their faces. For a moment, it was as if time stopped. When it began again, chaos reigned. Ghirahim sprinted at the Yiga without pause, and Link stumbled back to provide room. Midna flung an arm in front of Zelda, who looked the most shocked, looking over her shoulder, calling for guards. Linebeck was frozen but spurred back to life as Bellum zipped over to him, speaking rapidly. Ghirahim lunged at the Yiga, intending to tackle him, but fell onto the ground with paper amulets fluttering onto his back.

Link only stared at where the Yiga man had just been. A white note was among the blood-red amulets- he scrambled forward and snatched it up. Written neatly in ink were four words.

_Be aware of deception. _

Link stuffed the note into his pants pocket as Midna ran over and helped him to his feet, asking him what happened.


	14. Uncovered Legends

Link kept the note a secret. He told no one about it, keeping it hidden in his chest cavity. Zelda had called the Sheikah after the Yiga's attack, and security was clearly tighter than before. The queen had stopped the group on the way to their room to explain to them that the Yiga had never managed to make it into the castle, and she apologized for the incident.

* * *

"Never seen a Yiga with an axe before," Ghirahim muttered. "What was he like?"

Link returned his pillow to its place on his bed. "Fast. Strong. Could've killed me, really. I'm not as good with hand-to-hand. Or well, hand-to-axe. I thought the Yiga used sickles and katanas." He grabbed at the blankets and wrapped them around himself.

"Apparently, the Yiga today are much different than they were before 200 years ago," Linebeck said. "I talked to some of the Sheikah scientists about it. According to some old documents they found, they used to be more unified, with a clearer goal. Now, they're wilder and seem to be falling apart, less of the cult they used to be and more of a ragtag rebellion." He sighed and tugged his goggles off over his head, leaving them on his bedside table.

Ghirahim pouted. "Whatever. I guess it sucks that the Sheikah obviously aren't as good as we thought, letting that bastard in." The disappointment in his voice seemed genuine. He seemed unhappy that they had subverted his expectations. On the other side of the room, Midna sat by the door. Ghirahim peered at her. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting until it's silent," she hissed. "I'm going to sneak down to the library later. Linebeck? Weren't you going to steal some stuff from the lab?"

He joined her by the door, the two of them on each side. Ghirahim scoffed and shut his own light off. "Good night, nerds. Unlike you lot, I appreciate the time I get for beauty sleep."

Neither Linebeck nor Midna paid any attention to him. Link watched them for the next few minutes, detecting occasional footsteps outside the door. It went silent just as Ghirahim fell asleep, evident from his slowed breathing. Link sat up. "Good luck to you guys," he said. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

Linebeck waved his hand dismissively. "Love you too." Midna opened the door, and they both left the room without another sound.

"Which way's the lab?" Midna whispered, walking down the hall beside Linebeck. "If we're going in the same direction, it must be near the library." She paused, glancing over her shoulder. "Actually, that makes sense."

"It's near the library," Linebeck sighed. "We'll reach it before the library. Let's just hope the outside security was the one they paid attention to." He dropped into a crouch, sticking to the walls.

Midna stayed upright. Moonlight filtered into the hall through the tall windows, and she could see small patrols on the castle grounds. "You're strange," she mused. "There seem to be more guards outside, though. What're Bellum's thoughts?"

"He thinks I'm a moron. The usual."

"Damn... I really wish I could hear and see him, too, y'know?" Midna paused at the fork in the halls, glancing down both ways. "Which way?" She peered down at Linebeck, still crouched on the floor. He looked down each way and held out his hand, the flashlight in his metal pinkie finger turning on and providing a narrow beam of light. "That hand of yours is pretty useful," Midna sighed. "Makes the fact that you had to lose an arm for it almost worth it. Left hall, right?"

"Yeah." Linebeck hopped back up into a standing position and jogged down the hall.

"No more stealth?" Midna asked, running after him, passing a number of other rooms. They halted at one corner while a pair of Sheikah walked by, then kept going. "How much farther?"

Linebeck didn't respond at first, then muttered, "Bellum thinks it'll be a few more turns. I'd say he's right." He pointed his flashlight down the hall and gestured for Midna to follow again. "To be fair, if we get caught, I doubt we'll get in trouble. I'm the one doing the thieving. You're just going to check out some books. The lab's around this corner, the library is the big double doors. See you in the morning." He jogged across the hall and tugged a metal door open.

The library was enormous- three stories with a beautiful chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It wasn't lit, obviously, but each level had a few desks with lamps. Midna located the staircases up and down and found a few maps of the place. The genres and themes of the books were split up, and Midna made notes on what parts of the library to check. A few stray pencils around the library desks worked just well for her. She circled parts of interest and set out with one of the lamps in hand.

The darkness didn't daunt her. She'd found that she'd never minded the dark. The others were less amicable to it, but not quite scared. Midna walked cautiously, kicking aside small stacks of books left on the ground. From the state of the lowest floor, it seemed that the Sheikah frequently visited the castle library, doing research or simply reading.

Many books were dusty, much to Midna's surprise. The majority of books on the first floor were story books and novels. They didn't seem to have been touched often, but she usually found a few spots where a book was obviously missing. The shelves were tall, and a few ladders were available to use, but what Midna was looking for wasn't on the first floor.

The second floor was more science related, about plants and animals and life in Hyrule. Midna trudged up the carpeted stairs and peered over her shoulder. It was far too easy to imagine a group of Sheikah discovering her sneaking around in the middle of the night. She made sure to step lightly, and even considered removing her iron-toed boots. She ran her hand against the spines of the books as she walked, the lamplight shedding an orange glow onto them. A few books she removed out of curiosity but didn't take. However, she considered coming back for a few engineering and swordplay ones.

The section on the populations of Hyrule was her first stop. Midna ignored books on the species that she knew, like Hylians, Zora, Gerudo, Rito, and the Gorons. A large book on notable demons caught her eye, and she left it on a desk. Books on unknown races piqued her interest, but those would be for if she ran out of options. Ignoring her tiredness, Midna focused her energy on finding a book that would at least provide a hint to what she was.

Minutes dragged by with nothing to show, and Midna moved her search to the third-floor sections of magic-using entities and other kingdoms. She brought the book of demons with her. Her focus was complete, she thought of nothing but finding the right book. She didn't notice any noises around her, like the fluttering of pages or the sound of soft footsteps.

The tapping on her shoulder nearly made Midna shriek. She spun around, half expecting another Yiga attacker. Instead, she was face-to-face with Zelda. "Sorry to startle you."

Midna relaxed. "O-oh. It's you. D-didn't expect for you to be someone who wanders at night." She lowered herself down the last step of the ladder. "Welp, I'm caught. Sorry for sneaking out like this."

"Oh, no, it's okay," Zelda murmured. In her hands was a dusty book. "In fact, I was on my way to your room to give you something when I saw the light from your lamp." She held out the book with a weak smile. "I recommend that you look in this. It may help with what you're looking for. If not, then I apologize."

Midna peered at the book. The title was simple, the words 'People of Twilight' printed in thin letters. She took it from Zelda's handed and blew off some of the dust. "Looks old," she said. "I appreciate it, though." Other than the title, there wasn't much to look at. Much like Link's damaged history book. They needed to return those library books soon.

"Would you mind if I speak with you as you read?" Zelda asked, hands clasped behind her back. "I'm rather interested in learning more about this group of yours."

Midna set the lamp on a desk along with the book. She recalled Ghirahim's stiff rules from the night before they left: Don't tell them where we live, don't tell them about Bellum, keep information about Link ambiguous. "Yeah, I don't mind." Keeping secrets was a talent that all three of them shared.

Zelda pulled up another chair and adjusted the lamp light. She waited until Midna reached the table of contents before tapping a part of the page. "Chapter five. The Twili. You may find it... enlightening. How long have you known Lancrester and the demon?"

Midna frowned. "Lancrester- oh, Linebeck. A year, I think. We... don't remember anything past then."

She checked the page number and flipped through the book, a few sketches of familiar-looking symbols catching her eye. "A few of these drawings kinda look the markings on my body." She frowned. "Is this..." She froze once finding the pictures on the chapter. Draws of people who looked eerily like her- the bluish skin with black markings. The first page of the chapter was mostly drawings, but some text was pushed in a corner. The people drawn had Hylian-like features, but Midna instinctively knew that they were taller. Some had orange hair like hers, while others had other variants of yellow and red.

"Took me a while to find this," Zelda mumbled. "But I'd read it before, so it surprised me to see you for the first time."

Midna only slowly nodded. "I... may I take this back to our room? I need to... look at this more." Under her breath, she read the printed name of the race. "Twili... That's what I am?"

"I'd assume so. It says that they're talented magic-users in a different dimension. If you're truly one of them, then how you're in Hyrule in the first place is a good mystery." Zelda crossed her arms on the table. "...May I still ask you questions?"

Shakily closing the book, Midna nodded.

"Okay. What... kind of magic can you do at present?"

"I can make small things float, combine items to make potions or create small images of things I think of. Nothing fancy." Minda curled her fingers slowly. "I bet I could do more."

"What do you think of the others? Link included." Midna sighed. "Do please try and be honest," Zelda added, a hint of a smile on her face.

"Oh. Ghirahim is... interesting. He's useful for his fighting skill and willingness to prove himself better and therefore doing most of the chores, but he's a pain in the ass a lot of the time. So narcissistic. He's valuable, though. He's nice when the situation calls for it. We haven't had any problems related to the fact that he's a demon. He's not the best cook but has really good ideas. The only thing we've got to worry about with him is the fact that he's quick to pick a fight if insulted.

"Linebeck's a different story. He acts confident and a little arrogant, but he's a disturbingly good actor. He's got a few mental issues that keep us worried about him. He's in his workshop a lot and usually doesn't leave unless he really needs to, and he doesn't sleep unless he passes out from exhaustion. He's good with knives, though, for better or for worse, and he knows a lot about human anatomy, mostly for the sake of his robots. He found a lizard recently and has been taking care of it, and he's got a boyfriend that lives in the city.

"Link, the robot... we think he was made for warfare- mostly since he's a good fighter. He's real complex. Linebeck repaired him. He's... pretty nice to have around. That's really all I've got to say about him." Midna drummed her fingers on the desk. "That all?"

"Not quite, one more. What are you thoughts on the Yiga Clan?"

"Yiga... Clan?"

"Yes, that is their original name, but they seem to be ignoring the latter word."

Midna shrugged nervously. "I mean... I hate them. They cause so many problems and..." She frowned. "Why do they rebel against you and the Sheikah?"

Zelda sighed. "It's in their blood, so to speak. Based on their history, they hate the goddess Hylia and, therefore, the Sheikah and the royal family. The original members were all Sheikah betrayers, but they managed to recruit others from around Hyrule. At their core, they are evil. I worry that they're planning to release something onto Hyrule... I have reason to believe that they somehow caused the disaster 200 years ago." She yawned and leaned back in her chair. "Truth be told, I believe that your little group may help us fight back against the Yiga. Good night."

Midna nodded stiffly as the queen got to her feet and simply walked away in the darkness. An odd interaction.

She collected the book, turned off the lamp, and picked up the demon book before rushing back to the room. Link and Ghirahim were asleep in their beds, while Linebeck was inspecting ten large sheets of blue paper on the table. He didn't look up when she entered. "You found what you were looking for?"

Linebeck nodded, rubbing at the paper. "More or less. It was pretty well hidden in a safe, but metal hands don't have fingerprints, so I'll be all good. Bellum checked that no one was around and helped me figure out the code. I doubt they'll miss these- they're unreadable and were among like, fifty other papers." He rolled one of them up. "I'm going to have Bellum work on deciphering these things for the rest of the week." He paused, then muttered, "Don't whine, it's not like you have anything else to do."

Midna sauntered over to the table and laid the two books on the table. She pointed at the book Zelda had given to her. "I think I know what I am. Zelda gave me a book about a race called the 'Twili'. I look a lot like them, and they can use magic. Can you do me a favor and read this book? I need to get some sleep and I know that you care so little about your personal health that you'll stay up. Demon book, too. Might find something interesting."

* * *

Linebeck was sprawled out on the ground, out cold when they all woke. Link relayed Bellum's words to the others, letting them all know that he passed out from exhaustion about an hour before. They moved him to his bed and left him there until he woke late that night, then went back to looking at Midna's books.

While Linebeck was out cold, Ghirahim spent his day challenging Sheikah soldiers to fights and finding surprisingly good opponents. Link watched him fight for an hour before leaving to explore the castle more. Ghirahim was eventually pulled aside by the other two for lunch, and they returned to their room. Midna practiced her magic for a bit and Link talked with Bellum. Ghirahim was antsy and grabbed the history book that Link had brought along to read.

The next day was the same, but Linebeck shared some interesting finds from both books. He tossed the Twili book at Midna first. "You are Twili. That's really goddamn cool, and the fact that my voice is monotone as hell is because I've mocked by Bellum all day and putting emotion into my voice seems like too much work. You have potential to do some real cool magic. I wrote some notes down. I have no idea how you got here, considering you come from a whole different dimension. Tell us more about it when we get out of here, though." He yawned and scratched at his beard. "Ghirahim? Your name is literally mentioned in the demon book."

Ghirahim frowned. "Wh-what." He squawked as the book slammed into his face.

"Read." Linebeck snapped. "There's a whole chapter about you." He rubbed at his eyes and mumbled an expletive under his breath. "Hate feeling more tired after sleeping."

Ghirahim scrambled to set the book on his bed. He flipped to the table of contents and wildly gestured for the rest of them to look at it with him. He jabbed a finger at chapter ten once they huddled behind him. It very plainly read 'The Sword of Darkness – Ghirahim'. "One problem," he mumbled. "Last I checked, I'm not a sword."

"It's a book of demons, not weapons, dumbass, and metaphors exist," Linebeck snapped. "Read the damn chapter. It's pretty interesting. I have notes on it." He scratched the back of his head and collapsed into a chair at the table. "I slept through all of yesterday?"

"You were passed out on the floor and we dragged you into your bed and you were out cold all day," Link confirmed. "You got a lot of sleep." He leaned over Ghirahim's shoulder as he flipped through the book. Page after page contained detailed sketches and diagrams of various demons and monsters.

Ghirahim stopped at the chapter he needed. The first few pages were nothing but text, but the fifth offered a few sketches. A demon with black scales and hair like fire was drawn and labelled 'Demise'. The sketch next to it was very blatantly Ghirahim, albeit in a different outfit. The diamond-shaped holes were consistent in both outfits, and the red cloak the drawing had was much fancier than the tattered, stained one that Ghirahim currently wore. "What the hell?!" Ghirahim whispered, looking between the book and Linebeck.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"I dunno! What the hell is going on?" Ghirahim returned to the first page of the chapter and began properly reading. He waved away Midna and Link. "Piss off! I can't focus with the two of you breathing down my neck."

Ghirahim spent the next few hours reading, then tossed the book aside and briskly left the room with his sword. No one tried to stop him, but they all watched him leave with mild concern. Linebeck picked up the book and scowled. "He ripped a few pages."

* * *

Ghirahim stormed to the training grounds as the sun was setting. They were empty and deserted. He ripped his sword from its scabbard, which he then threw away. A number of well-crafted training dummies were at his mercy as he furiously began to tear into them, sending hay and bits of cloth flying with each swing of his sword. When his blade bit into the wood post, he moved onto the next in the line.

It didn't take long for him to demolish them all. He stood in the center of the training grounds, staring around at the piles of hay and cloth, wishing there were more to take his fury and confusion out on. Ghirahim let out a long exhale and relaxed slightly. All this anger would do him no good. He shuffled over to his fallen scabbard and picked it up, clipping it to its place on his belt.

He turned in time to watch Zelda stride into the training grounds. "Hello," he muttered, then noticed a thin sword sheathed at her hip. "What do you want?"

She only shrugged. Rather than her usual regal dress, Zelda wore a more casual tunic with trousers. The air of royalty around her still remained. She stopped a few feet from her and settled her hand on the pommel of her sword. "I was hoping we could duel." With that, she unsheathed her sword, the thin, silver blade gleaming in the dim light. "I've heard that you're very skilled."

Ghirahim scowled and shrugged. "Maybe. I apologize if I maim you, however... I'm rather pissed at the moment."

"New information can be overwhelming at times," Zelda sighed. "Would you like to go over it? I know what you've discovered, I've read the book you read." She ran a finger along her sword's blade. "I can answer some of your questions, but, in turn, I'd like to ask a few as well. At the very least, you may take your anger out on a much sturdier target."

Ghirahim sighed. "Sure." He fell into his relaxed stance, standing a few yards away from Zelda. The queen's stance was similar; she was still and clearly prepared. Ghirahim tensed up for a split second, then lunged at Zelda. He feinted to the left and thrust at her right shoulder. Zelda almost defended her left, but her sword flashed up and knocked away Ghirahim's. He hopped back and knocked away her attack.

Zelda attacked him right as he did, and their swords ended up locked against each other. Ghirahim let out a huffed and snapped, "Okay, first question. Why am I in that damn book?! It says some demon like me was the right-hand-man of some other demon that rivaled Hylia. Demise, I think it was?" Ghirahim pushed away from her with sparks flying. "Got an explanation?"

Zelda smiled thinly. "Yes. We've been keeping an eye on you since you showed up. You're a demon, yes, but one of the oldest demons we know of. Why you're even here is a mystery," she sighed. Her sword slid to the side, and Ghirahim slashed at her again, only for her to parry it and nearly put a cut in his ear. "From what I've learned, you're a servant of evil, hell-bent on resurrecting your master and destroying Hylia's standing in our world. Rumors go that you may have the ability to become a sword yourself, much like a sword spirit, but perhaps that ability has been dulled with time. After all, the legends you're involved in are from millennium ago."

Ghirahim gritted his teeth and blindly slammed his blade against hers. "Well?! Is that my past?! Is that what I've forgotten?! Then explain my instinctual connection to Linebeck and Midna! Why am I here?! Why do I have no memory of this 'Demise'?!"

Zelda pushed away from him and circled him from a safe distance. "Yet another good question. My personal theory is that you somehow returned to Hyrule after theoretically being destroyed."

"What-"

"Perhaps, with time, your loyalty to Demise has waned. After all, he has been sealed away for so long, using puppets to further his goals but being thwarted time and time again by the chosen hero."

Ghirahim lowered his sword. "Chosen hero?" He reacted just in time to block a graceful attack from Zelda that would've cleaved him from shoulder to hip. Sheltered queen or not, this strange woman could fight like hell. "What chosen hero?"

"That's irrelevant until the end of this week, don't worry. Long story short, you're a demon who seems to have turned to a new leaf after generations and generations." Zelda danced away, light on her feet and a calm grin on her face. "I'll do the asking now. You're skilled. You also have quite a bit of magic potential, like your beautiful Twili friend." Zelda huffed and shifted her stance. "It's a shot in the dark, but I get the feeling that she keeps the rest of you from causing too much trouble."

Ghirahim shrugged, brushing his cloak behind his shoulders. "Yeah. She thinks you're cute, too, if that matters."

"I appreciate it. First question... what do you think of the other three?"

"Huh." He almost relaxed, but the violent contact of their blades reminded him that he was in a fight. "Well! Midna is very reliable and impressive, despite what I might say. She keeps us together and sane. Good with potions, a good fighter, smart, keeping me from killing someone every few days. A bit mischievous, but, with Link, she's calming down in that department.

"Link's fun, a good fighter, a cool robot. A rival, maybe. Not much to say about him, really. Sorry."

"That's fine."

"Right. Linebeck... the guy's a mess, quite honestly. Bandages around his right forearm, old scars that we don't know about due to the memory loss, aphenphosemphobia. The whole deal. I'd say I'm pretty protective of him, honestly." He grunted and stumbled away from Zelda's blade, inches from his face, and parried her next attack. "That's all I got to say. What more do you want?" He deflected a vicious attack, sparks flying. They were now sparring in the moonlight, neither of them looking tired yet both with a thin sheen of sweat on their faces.

Zelda hopped back with a flourish, dodging a thrust. "Well. Truth be told, I don't have much to ask you. What are you plans after this?"

Ghirahim scowled. "Dunno. We haven't talked about it. We might show Link around Hyrule. We've got the time and money."

He and Zelda clashed a few moments longer, swords grating against each other until she hopped back and fluidly sheathed her sword. "You should return to your room. Thanks for talking with me." With that, she bowed and turned away with a half-hearted wave, leaving Ghirahim alone and rather dumb struck in the middle of the deserted training grounds.

Deciding that getting caught by a troop of Sheikah patrollers was an embarrassing fate, Ghirahim hurriedly sheathed his saber and rushed back to the room. Link was asleep, Linebeck was pouring over the books and blueprints, and Midna wasn't even there. "Where's-"

"The library," Linebeck automatically answered, waving his hand. "Get some sleep. We have a fair bit of talking to do tomorrow."

Ghirahim nodded weakly, now acutely aware of his exhaustion. He left his sword and scabbard on the table while he passed it but stopped by Linebeck. He placed a hand on his shoulder. The engineer's breath caught, and his dilated eyes flicked over to Ghiraim, searching his features for any hint of malicious intent. "Do me a favor. Compared to the rest of us, you're the most vulnerable. Be... be careful." He slid his hand off and stumbled over to his bed, collapsing on the mattress fully dressed.

* * *

The next day was spent trading notes, Midna and Ghirahim explaining what they now knew about themselves. Link offered his own theories and wished the two of them luck as they dedicated the day afterwards to unlocking new magic. While they huddled together in the library, making papers float and pushing their own limits, Linebeck dragged Link to the training grounds.

"What do you want?" Link whined, pacing in a circle while Linebeck rummaged through a pile of equipment in a corner. "Do you want me to teach you something?"

Linebeck withdrew a simple wooden bow and help it out to Link. "Do you know how to use this?" It was unstrung, but one of the limbs had wire tied to it.

Link shrugged, taking it from him. "Not as far as I know... I'll need to string it. If you'd want me to teach you, I'd need some time to test myself," he murmured, glancing up at Linebeck. "Is that okay?" Linebeck muttered something under his breath but nodded. Link smiled pleasantly and got to re-stringing the bow while he sulked away.

It was a simply wooden bow, clearly meant more for training than actual battle. Once done stringing it, Link picked up a leather quiver of simple wooden arrows. They were more like sharp sticks than arrows, straight pieces of wood with sharpened tips. They still worked well enough. Link found a line of cloth and wood targets and set himself a fair distance from them. He dug into his memory logs and found a known history and uses for archery, types of bows and arrows- lots of stuff he didn't necessarily find useful.

Link quickly nocked an arrow and aimed, releasing the arrow and finding his aim to be worse than he expected. He frowned to himself and tried again, missing the target a second time. He was either shooting too short or simply missing the target. After five arrows, three were in the ground before the target while the other two were on the ground to the side of it. He could use most other weapons, as proved by Ghirahim taking nights off to drag him into sparring matches, but archery didn't seem to have been programmed into him.

Link ignored as Sheikah soldiers began to train around him, moving quietly and doing their best not to bother him. He glanced over his shoulders to peer back at them, finding himself distracted by their flexible fighting style and quick movements. In a different section of the training grounds, other Sheikah were practicing their own archery, much more skilled than Link. He almost felt embarrassed trying around them.

Link sighed heavily after missing what felt like his fiftieth shot and gathered up the arrows. He returned them to their quiver and put it away, huddling in a corner and unstringing the bow. He almost felt ashamed of himself, despite knowing that most humans wouldn't be good with archery on their first try. The unstrung bow was left with the rest of the equipment and he sulked out of the training grounds, desperately trying not to be seen.

Link rushed through the halls, hoping to track down Linebeck and let him know he'd need more time with the archery, but nearly ran into Zelda around a corner. He stumbled back, feeling the color in his synthetic cheeks rise. He bit back an apology, not sure whether or not he should speak.

Zelda smiled down at him. "I apologize. I didn't mean to run into you, but I have been looking for you." Link offered a nervous smile, and Zelda tilted her head to the side. "You may speak, if you'd like. I'm aware that you can."

Link blinked a few times. "O-oh. Right. Sorry. I was told to be careful around others. D-did you need something, your majesty?"

With a wave of her hand and a sigh, Zelda muttered, "Drop the honorifics. It's enough to get them day-in-day-out from the Sheikah. We'll walk to my study, if you'd like. What I need to talk about is rather important." She sighed to herself and rubbed under her eyes. "I apologize if I seem tired... I've been having a hard time resting this past week."

A few Sheikah passed by them, and Zelda rubbed at her arm. "Walk with me, please. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." She gestured for Link to follow her down the hall, and he stumbled the first few steps, bemused.

"What do you want to talk about?" Link asked, jogging to properly catch up with her. "Midna and Ghirahim said that you talked with them, too."

"I have. Once I've finished speaking with you, I'll send you and your group off with a task, if you all can. It is an urgent matter, however. The rising threat of the Yiga has got me thinking." Zelda led Link up a staircase, peering back at him. "After all, if they can sneak into this castle with no consequence, they must be planning something."

Link nodded. "Yeah. Do you think they're planning to get rid of you? Why do you think they'd want to?"

Zelda shook her head, clasping her hands in front of her. "Well, the reason I wanted to tell you in my study is because I'm worried about spies, but I suppose you can handle yourself."

"What do you mean-"

"I take it that you may know nothing of a hero of legend and the so-called 'cycle' he is involved in along with a young woman and an evil they must stop?"

"I've read up on the history of Hyrule, but they're not mentioned..."

"Yes. My... family took it upon them to destroy evidence of their existences to try and halt any related threats, but the Yiga seem to know about it and aim to destroy me and achieve what they wish to do." She pulled open a pair of doors at the end of a hall, allowing Link to enter first. "We have reason to believe that the reason that the Gerudo are lacking a male leader is because he is the leader of the Yiga, a young man named Ganondorf. It is but a theory at the moment, but a good one."

Link frowned, glancing around the room for a moment. It was like a smaller library with a large desk and papers pinned to the walls. "Why does this leader matter? I know he's the leader, but..." He smiled weakly. "The way you said his name implied that he matters."

Zelad shut the door after her. "He does. He has an ancestor from 200 years ago- much of the evidence we've found implies that he had something to do with what destroyed what is now the junkyard. We have reason to believe that he intends to continue what his predecessor started, and the Yiga is the straggling remains of the group that wished to destroy the followers of the Goddess Hylia."

Link nodded with a worried frown. "Do you think they might destroy Hyrule again? What do my friends and I have to do with it?"

Zelda sighed. "I must tell you a short version of the legend, in order to fully allow you to understand the situation. In the time when we lived among the clouds, a... host of sorts to Hylia's spirit, a hero chosen by the Goddesses, and the general embodiment of evil had a great clash. The chosen maiden, as she has been called throughout time, was kidnapped in an attempt to awaken the embodiment of evil, as you know, and the hero stopped them. The demon, Ghirahim, or, him from a millennia ago, was the one trying to release the evil, Demise, out of his loyalty to him."

"He was... defeated by the hero?" asked Link. "Was he killed?"

"We assumed so, as he disappeared. Until recently, of course. But he is of little importance. After being sealed away, Demise forced the three of them to forever be a part of a cycle of hate, the three of them and their predecessors always to embody one of the three parts of the Triforce- the maiden with wisdom, the hero with courage, and Demise's emissary of hate with power. The hero was constantly reborn, Hylia would choose the next maiden to act as the one to wield her divine power, and Demise would try and force his hate upon one whom he deemed worthy of his ambitions. Most often, Hylia would choose a queen or princess of Hyrule bearing the name of Zelda."

"So..." Link rubbed his temples. "That would be you." He crossed his arms and stepped back a little, taking another moment to look around the room. "And... is this Ganondorf guy the next person that Demise... forced his hate upon? Is that like telling him what to do?"

Zelda picked up a stack of papers and sifted through it. "More like a slow possession. Unpleasant. It is, at first, like intrusive thoughts, and the fully takeover is triggered by the Triforce of Power, more often than not. On the other hand, the hero is oft reincarnated into the role, always going by the name of Link." Her eyes slowly met his. "Any questions?"

Link sat in the first chair he found. Taking a moment to straighten out his tunic, he slowly asked, "Are you saying that 'cycle' or... legend is taking place now? I mean... if you're right about this Ganondorf guy being who he is, and you... and me..." He let out a frustrated sigh. "But I'm a robot who was built before either of you were born?! How does that work?"

"The goddesses must've anticipated you being buried until now," Zelda sighed. "But... do you believe me? Do you wish to believe me? Because, if you do, it may mean that you may have to stop the Yiga and Ganondorf for good."

Link leaned back, rubbing his temples. "But what about you? Can't you stop him?"

Zelda strode over to Link and crouched down in front of him. "In all the legends, my role has usually been to provide support to the hero, not kill the evil. After all, the only way you can seal the evil that is Demise is to kill his current emissary with the Master Sword. I doubt you even know what that is. If you accept your role, I can guide you into becoming the hero we may need. Since nothing obvious has caught the citizens' attention, we may have time before you're truly needed."

Link gritted his teeth. "So, I have time to think this over?"

Zelda nodded with a soft smile. "Yes. Either way, I'd like for you and your friends to venture to Kakariko Village, followed by the four main races' villages as well. Let yourself be known without revealing that you may be a hero we'll need." She got back to her feet and brushed off her dress. "Put simply, you're the hero of this era, and you'd do well to work with me. We have little intel on the Yiga, so simply trying to find their base is a hassle. Going to Kakariko and the other villages will help you become stronger and understand the world you'll have to save."

Link nodded, hopping to his feet. "Right!" Zelda raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrank back a little. "I'm just a bit excited to finally have an idea as to what my purpose may be. You talked to the others and asked them questions, right? Will you ask me any questions?"

Zelda shrugged. "I spoke with the demon and Midna. I'll tell them what I told you on your final day here, so you can set off."

Link moved to exit the study, then froze. "You didn't talk to Linebeck?"

The look on Zelda's face bordered on disdainful. A strong feeling of loyalty and indignance raced through Link's circuits, but he said nothing. "Lancrester? Take no offense, but, despite his technical skill, he didn't catch my eye as much as the others. He's the outlier, being the only non-magical entity within your team. It's odd, that fact that he's just some... guy who's teamed with a demon, a twili, and the destined hero. I'll see you four tomorrow."


	15. Kakariko

Zelda explained the situation to Link's friends the morning of the last day of their stay, and the asked questions and general confusion forced the explanation to take an hour. Link lingered by the balcony's railing as she spoke, slowly realizing that she addressed

Ghirahim simply as 'demon' and referred to Linebeck only using the name 'Lancrester'. Whatever that meant. Midna was the only one with her name used, but the look Zelda would give her seemed... off.

Once done, Zelda ordered for Link to stand among them so she could address them all. "Now that you know of your possible quest..." She clasped her hands together. "I have arranged for the four of you to visit Kakariko village, and the four races' village as well. I have told Link to introduce himself but not his standing as the hero. He will prepare for the possibility of calamity, and it's in the rest of your best interests to adopt some helpful skills as well." Her eyes flicked over to Midna and Ghirahim, then to Link. "We've arranged for you to go with a small wagon, escorted by a Sheikah. You may have to share your wagon with a fifth member, as an artisan will with riding with you to Kakariko."

Once done, Zelda dismissed the group and ordered them to be at the northern city gate by noon. They rushed back to their room, Link reminding them that it was late in the morning. On the way back, Link jogged up to Linebeck. "What's 'Lancrester' mean?"

"It's my last name," Linebeck mumbled. "Although, it doesn't seem to matter since there's no recorded person in the last 200 years with the same last name."

Link nodded, then set his hands on his hips. "Do you think I have a last name? That you know of?"

"Nope," was the blunt answer. Link sighed and peered away.

It wasn't difficult to pack up their things and leave the castle, but a few moments were set aside for trying to hide stolen books and blueprints. Once sure that the stolen items wouldn't be found, they hurried out of the castle and through the streets. The sky above them was cloudy, but the weather prediction in Link's mind promise a clear night. He turned to Midna or Ghirahim. "How long would it take for us to walk to Kakariko?"

"A day or two," Ghirahim sighed. "It's pretty far. With a wagon pulled by a horse, it would be a day at the most." He stumbled out of the way of some passing Gorons. "Who do you think this 'artisan' is?"

"What would people in Kakariko want from an artisan?" Midna asked. "I mean, they could do anything."

"Do carpenters count as artisans...?" Linebeck mused, seemingly talking to himself.

"They do," Ghirahim sighed, "so your boyfriend could be the hypothetical artisan." He scowled at the engineer's elated reaction. "It's a possibility," he snapped.

The 'train of wagons' didn't look much like a few wagons connected in some way that Link had envisioned. Sure, it was a few wagon-like parts connected, but they were made more out of wood and metal.

A man was by the wagons, loading crates of varying sizes onto one of the wagons. Link didn't recognize him, but Linebeck obviously did, as proven by the noticeable brightening of his mood. "Damien?" Link asked. Linebeck nodded.

Ghirahim scowled. "Great." The scowled turned to a half-hearted frown. "At least it's someone we know. _I've _never met him, though."

"He's real nice," Midna said. "I wonder if he got some commissions from Kakariko?"

"Yeah, he actually gets a fair bit of orders from Kakariko." In the past few... weeks that Link had known Linebeck, he doubted he'd seen him looking so happy, as if he'd hadn't been awake for days on end. "I'll have to introduce him to you and Ghirahim," Linebeck mused, smiling at Link. "I bet you'll like him."

He jogged ahead of them, waving at the carpenter by the wagon. They ran up to each other, clearly excited, talking. While the other three walked over to him, Linebeck was helping Damien drag the crates onto the last wagon in the train. They were conversing animatedly with each other about what the castle was like when the group made it to them.

"What was Zelda like?" Damien asked, pausing in the middle of loading a small crate on. "Is she as beautiful as the rumors say? No one really sees her." He blinked and seemed to notice the others for the first time. "Oh! I haven't met you guys- Nice to see you again, Midna!"

Ghirahim offered up a bemused smile, and Link kept his impassive expression. Damien did have a similar hair color to Linebeck, albeit browner. His skin was tanned, but his shirt would shift to show paler skin. He was taller than only Link, by a few inches, and had light green eyes, just as Linebeck had said. "You're Damien?" Link asked, walking over to him.

"Yep! I take it you're Linebeck's little project, Link?" Damien tapped him on the head. "Damn. I can see why he lies about you being a robot. You look pretty realistic." He turned to Linebeck with a wide grin. "You repaired him?! Amazing work, though I doubt anything you make would ever be sub-par." Linebeck didn't turn away in time to hide his blush. Bellum looked less exasperated than Link would have expected.

"Nice to meet you," Link responded. He offered a small smile. "Linebeck talks about you sometimes. That shield that you made was amazing. It's got barely a scratch on it even after being in a few battles."

"Glad you liked it," Damien purred. "I spent quite a bit of time perfecting that thing." He looked over Link's shoulder and waved at Ghirahim. "Hi! You're Ghirahim, right?"

Ghirahim nodded. "Yes. Nice to meet you." He crossed his arms and seemed to look Damien over. "You look like you could hold your own in a fight. Do you know how to?"

Linebeck shot a venomous glare at Ghirahim, but Damien only shrugged. "I've fought off muggers, sure. We're leaving in a few minutes." He turned and hauled himself onto the wagon. "We'll all be in the wagon in front of this one," he said, pointing at it.

Link nodded and grabbed a handful of Ghirahim's cloak. "Cool, we'll check it out."

The wagons were simple, like any wagon Link expected to see, but however they moved was beyond him. He turned to Ghirahim. "How will these wagons move?"

"Mechanical horses," said Ghirahim. "I thought you'd know about those. They're robotic horses, created only to drag wagons across the junkyard and to outskirts villages. Normal horses can't traverse the junkyard, so a bunch of engineers got together to create them. This was before we woke up, so Linebeck had nothing to do with it as far as we know." Ghirahim turned and jumped into the wagon, a fairly sized space with benches, the wagon in front being similar in design and size, but with a few other crates inside.

"Damien seems nice," Link sighed. "And we can trust him if Linebeck lets him touch him," he added, watching Damien briefly tousle Linebeck's hair. Link leaned forward and looked through the other wagons. Two more were in front, and he caught a glimpse of what Ghirahim had called 'mechanical horses'. Based on what they looked like, the name was perfect.

Midna joined the two of them in their wagon after a few minutes, and Linebeck and Damien joined right after. "We're good to go," Midna chirped. "We just need to wait for that escort that Zelda told us about."

"It's a Sheikah, right?" sighed Ghirahim. "You'd think the queen would just let us go, considering our..." He trailed off, not-so-inconspicuously glancing at Damien. Link shifted and peered over at Linebeck, who rolled his eyes. Ghirahim cleared his throat. "Well, I haven't been to Kakariko."

"Neither have I," Midna sighed. Linebeck only shook his head.

"It's really nice," Damien said. "Pretty beautiful with all the trees and stuff."

"'All the trees and stuff'? Care to elaborate?" teased Linebeck, smiling at Damien. "You're a carpenter, I'm sure you know your trees."

"It's been a while," Damien sighed. "I think some were cherry blossoms, weeping willows, an apple tree or two. It's been a few months. I usually just send the merchandise off in a wagon, and then get back to work."

Linebeck frowned. "Why're you going with it this time, then? With Yiga attacks on the rise along with monster attacks, it's not too safe."

Damien shrugged. "Well, I heard you were going, too, so I had to." Ghirahim turned away from the two of them and made a gagging motion. Link and Midna both glared at him from across the wagon. "We don't have much time with each other, anyways, so this is a pretty good opportunity as well. We've barely had a proper date these past few months, and I'd definitely like to spend some time with you."

Ghirahim rolled his eyes and moved from his bench to Link and Midna's. "This is sappy as hell," he hissed, just barely audible.

Link glanced up at the sight of a flickering blur, and Bellum hovered inches from Ghirahim's face. The demon flinched for a moment but didn't seem to realize why. Bellum peered over at Link and whispered, "He's being a pain in the ass 'cuz he doesn't like the concept of love." Ghirahim waved his hand as if shooing away a fly, and it phased through Bellum a few times before the AI retreated back to Linebeck.

A knock was heard on at the end of the wagon, and they peered over. The Sheikah girl waved at them. "I'm your escort to Kakariko. We'll get going shortly." Midna waved to her, and the girl blinked. "Oh. Hello, Midna. Good to see you again."

Midna smiled bright. "And you! It's nice that our escort is someone we know. ...I never asked you your name! Goddesses, I forgot to do that. What's your name?"

The girl hesitated and mumbled under her breath. She waited a moment, then spoke louder. "...My name's Koko. My sister is Cottla, she trains in Kakariko, so you might meet her."

A quiet chorus of 'Nice to meet you, Koko' emanated from everyone else in the wagon, and Midna said, "I hope to meet your sister!" Koko timidly nodded and the stoic expression returned to her face. She ducked out a sight, and Link spotted her climbing into the first wagon a few moments later. She did something with the mechanical horses, and the wagons started to slowly move.

"How long should this take?" Link asked, peering out the side and watching the city go by. "We're going faster than we would be while walking. Are these used often?"

Ghirahim shook his head. "No, they take a few engineers to make and lots of money to fund. There's only about five that people own these mechanical horses, so this is practically an honor of some sort. Anyways. We'll probably get there really late, so we'll be on the road for a few hours. I'm already bored." He stood up and walked to the edge of the wagon, peering at the last wagon. A few bags that belonged to the group were set on top of Damien's crates. He jumped over to the wagon and started going through the bags.

Damien leaned back and regarded Midna and Link. "So. How was the tournament? I wasn't able to see it due to work, but I heard that the matches with Link were good."

The carpenter's gaze lingered on Link, and he felt a jolt as he realized as everyone else was looking at him. "U-uh... well it was pretty... intense? I've never actually met other robots, so it was weird to fight them. I'm happy to have won, thought. Meeting Zelda was interesting."

"We got attacked by some Yiga right after, and then attacked by a lone Yiga during the first night at the castle," Linebeck added, sounding a bit more excited about the topic than he needed. "We weren't hurt, but it was kinda weird. I'm thinking they might have it out for us. One of the Yiga had a black scarf, and the one at the castle..." Linebeck paused, trying to remember. "He had a red coat, and a small black scarf as well. I wonder what's with the black scarves."

Damien crossed his arms. "I heard that there's five different Yiga with black scarves, each with different weapons. They use a katana, an axe, bow, spear, and the last one simply just fights hand-to-hand. The rumor going around is that they're the five elite members of the Yiga, and the five leaders. You must've really done something impressive to catch _their _attention."

An uncomfortable glance was shared between Linebeck, Midna, and Link. Even Bellum looked uneasy. Only Ghirahim, digging around in their stuff, didn't seem to have heard. They shifted uncomfortably and didn't speak again once out of the city. Midna cleared her throat. "Well, I doubt we'd be attacked on the way with a Sheikah escorting us. They'd directly provoke the queen by doing that."

"That seems to be their intent," Ghirahim said, returning to the wagon with a book in hand.

"You were listening?" Link asked, frowning.

"I'm not deaf. I just didn't react or anything." Ghirahim flipped through the book, settling back onto the bench. He glanced back up at Damien. "How long are you going to stay at Kakariko?"

Damien shrugged. "Probably as long as you will. Do you mind if I stick with you? I've never been to the other races' villages, either, so it'd be cool to see them with you. I don't get a chance to leave the city too often... It'll be cool to get to travel to the non-Hylian villages. Have you guys been to those villages?"

A sheepish chorus of 'nope' and 'never' answered him, and Damien let out a nervous laugh. "Cool, we'll all be experiencing it for the first time at the same time. Reassuring!"

The city continued to grow smaller on the horizon as the day wore on, and Ghirahim isolated himself in the last wagon, reading. Link and Midna cleared out the second wagon to work on some very careful sparring, and Linebeck and Damien stayed in the third wagon to talk.

"I like you," Link plainly told Damien while they had reconvened for a short lunch of stolen castle food. He paused then, awkwardly added, "I mean I trust you. You seem like a really cool person."

"Same here," Ghirahim sighed. "Then again, I've never met anyone who could pull off an undercut as well as you do."

Damien chuckled. He reached back and felt at his ponytail. Link had to admit he hadn't noticed his hair at first, and the undercut would've been hidden if most of his hair wasn't pulled back in a short ponytail. "Yeah, I guess I look fine. Took me some time to decide on it, since I wasn't sure how it'd look. I guess it turned out alright. You don't look half bad, either. We're just a collection of weird haircuts, except Midna's probably the most normal. You don't look too odd, Link, but you're a robot, so you're the outlier."

"Yeah," Midna sighed, patting Link on the head. "You don't count. Still, the other three of us," She peered them with a humorous glint in her eyes. "Buncha weirdos."

Ghirahim scowled. "You don't appreciate true style, then."

Linebeck only shrugged. "Cool. We all know I could care less about my personal appearance."

Damien grinned. "My hair grows out really quickly. The undercut makes it easy to see when it gets long. Linebeck sometimes helps me with it when we see each other." He turned and looked over at Linebeck. "A random skill, but I appreciate it."

Lunch was over quickly, and a few innocuous stories about their time at the castle, leaving out the individual questioning and Link's new role, were shared. Koko didn't interact with them as she steered the wagons through the junkyard, and then the wasteland.

Link sat at the edge of the wagon once Midna decided they were done with sparring. He watched the wasteland slowly go by. He saw a few small collections of little houses, some trees and bushes, bokoblins and moblins wandering, animals living their lives. The further they got from the city and the junkyard, the greener the grass became, the more animal and plant life he saw. It was clear that whatever happened two-hundred-years ago eradicated life near the city, but was weaker the further from the city. An explosion, perhaps? Hopefully, his possible adventure as the 'hero' would reveal what happened back then.

"Here we are, Kakariko!"

Damien leaned out of the wagon, keeping himself from falling out by holding on to the edge. The last few hours of traveling showed Link the edge of Hyrule. It was green and beautiful. Lively with deer, boar, birds, and even monsters. Some small villages were seen, and Damien pointed out a ranch called 'Lon Lon Ranch'. It was apparently a main supplier of milk and livestock.

They reached Kakariko just as the sun was slowly setting. The edge of Hyrule contained rolling hills and forests. The rest of the group explained to Link that the Goron lived at the base of a mountain, the Zora lived in a forested land with rivers and lakes, the Rito in a colder frontier, the Gerudo in a desert. Most Hylian villages were in the plains and sparse forests. There were even rumors of a sea somewhere in the world, an idea pitched by Damien that excited Linebeck.

Koko eventually steered them along a road between small, grassy mountains, and a number of gates with banners and lanterns told them of civilization. Mountain goats and frogs in ponds greeted them by staring as they passed by, and Link fought back an amusing urge to wave at them.

They passed more gates, ten in all, and the tenth had a trio of Sheikah warriors standing on top of it. They only watched, barely moving as the wagons passed underneath them. At the front of the wagon, Link could see Koko wave to them.

The sky was dark once the narrow mountain pathway opened up to reveal Kakariko Village. It was peaceful looking, with small fields of pumpkins, carrots, rice and wheat, and apple trees. Cuccos wandered around in small enclosures, and both dogs and cats were visible among the people that went about their lives. Hanging lanterns at the edges of roofs and small torches at the sides of paths illuminated the village.

The wagon was stopped in the clearing at the village's entrance, and Koko greeted them as they hopped off. "There is an inn nearby. You can stay there for the night. In the morning, we can unload the carpenter's things, and your four can begin what you came here to do. I'll take you to the inn, if you'd like. I'll pay for the first night, but you can choose how you'll spend your nights."

She stood a fair bit away while the group agreed on the rooming. Ghirahim led the discussion, ending it before anyone else gave their ideas. "Link, Midna, and I can share a room with three beds, and Linebeck and Damien can get their own room."

Koko led them through the dim streets. A few residents of the village, most with white hair and red eyes, watched them go by, but none stared. The village was peaceful, and Link felt a sense of safety and calm descend over him. It was doubtful that the Yiga would try and attack the village of their rivals. They could spend a few days there, gathering information and introducing themselves. Link could even see if he could be mentored by some Sheikah trainer to become a better fighter.

The inn was fairly large, perhaps two stories tall and a few rooms wide. Koko pushed open the double doors for them, and the group walked in. Candles and small lanterns illuminated the room, and the innkeeper smiled upon seeing Koko. "Ah, Koko! It's been a while since you've come home! Your sister has been training with Cado, so she's been at his house with his other apprentices."

Koko warmly smiled. "Thank you. I'll go visit her tonight. For now, I'll pay for these fives' rooms." She stood back and allowed them to awkwardly ask for the rooms that they'd agreed upon. The price turned out to be around fifty rupees, and Koko easily payed for them.

She left them alone, and the group walked up the stairs while quietly conversing about their plans in the village. Most of the group decided that they could take advantage of the time to relax. Damien sighed, but grinned, and said, "Well, I'm going to be selling my merchandise while we're here and might work on some new stuff. I'll be stuck doing that for... maybe the first day or two."

"I'll stick with your tomorrow," Linebeck murmured, "Unless there's a tech lab or something, then I'm gone."

They split up into their rooms, and Link collapsed in his bed. "Why am I so tired?" he yawned. "I barely did anything today."

"Same," Midna muttered. A drowsy nod from Ghirahim was the demon's only answer. "I'm a light sleeper. The fact that we're next to Linebeck and Damien's room is a little worrying."

Link rubbed at his eyes. "Bellum wouldn't let them try anything for the sake of himself. Good night. Please don't wake me up."

* * *

"Nice room," Linebeck muttered, tossing his bag of tools onto the desk. "I'm probably not going to get any sleep, so the bed's all yours."

Damien nodded, pulling back the covers. "You should at least try. If you do manage to sleep, it'll make the rest of your time here much better."

"Ah, but you're here and we can finally have a proper date, so that'll make it great."

Damien snorted. "For a gruff guy who hates pretty much everything and everyone, you can be pretty sappy." He dug through his own bag and set some papers on the desk, flipping on the lamp. "Uh, what do I get when adding a negative to a negative?"

Linebeck frowned at the back of his head. "A positive, a negative with a negative will give you a positive. Why?"

"I'm reviewing some math so I can properly calculate our earnings tomorrow."

"What, you think we'll lose money?" asked Linebeck, shooting a smile back at him. "I thought you were good with math. I mean, gotta know some good geometry to be a carpenter."

With a weak laugh, Damien squeaked, "Well, yeah, but you're the engineer! Math is your job."

"I'm technically unemployed." Linebeck shrugged his coat off and hung it off the bedframe. "Need any more math help?"

"Nah, I'm good." Damien glanced over his shoulder, watching Linebeck roll up his sleeves. "Do your mechanical joints ever get rusty? Like, do you ever need to oil them?"

"Uh, they're not iron, but gunk and stuff get stuck there are makes it hard to bend them. It's real annoying, but at least oil comes off as fairly cheap."

Damien nodded, humming to himself. He scrawled something down on his papers and left them where they were. "Uh, bit of a mood killer, but have you heard those rumors in the city?"

Linebeck shrugged. "I live outside the city, so I doubt it."

"Rumors are going around that people have been going missing," Damien murmured. The silence in the room was deafening at they stared at each other, allowing the words to settle in. "People are there one day, then, without a trace, they're gone. Lots of people say that it's the Yiga, but that's not their style. They're flashier, letting you know they were there."

"If it's not the Yiga, then who's doing it?" As Linebeck watched Damien, the carpenter seemed like he was going to speak, then hesitated. "What?"

Damien shook his head. "Nothing. What... what do you think of the Yiga? Do you think that they're as much as a threat that the queen makes them out to be?"

Linebeck grimaced. "Well, I worry about being honest since we're in a Sheikah town."

"We can go out onto the roof." Linebeck's skeptical expression brought a sigh to Damien's lips. "If we need an excuse not to get bothered, you can bring your stash."

"You're suggesting we get high on the roof of an inn. I'll meet you out there in a few minutes."

Linebeck flicked the lighter at the end of his middle finger on and off a few times. Damien timidly peered over the edge of the roof, then over at Linebeck. "So. Your opinion on the Yiga?"

"They seem... like they have a just goal in mind. I mean, they must know something we don't to have just a drive to fight against Zelda and the Sheikah. I personally don't trust the queen either, and that's not just because she refused to call me by anything other than my last name." Linebeck shook his head. "They might be worth looking into. Did you actually want to smoke?"

"When we're done talking. You have a good point. I'm... please, _please_ do not tell this to anyone else. I'm personally more on the side of the Yiga. I don't trust the queen one bit." Damien yawned and peered over at Linebeck. "I'm worried that if that gets out, that I might be the next person to go missing."

Linebeck silently regarded Damien. "Let's talk about something more fun. Like tomorrow's plans."

* * *

Link fell asleep around midnight, long after the others. He laid in bed while Midna and Ghirahim checked their stuff but became restless. He hopped out of bed and paced the room, then stopped once Ghirahim snapped at him for being loud. Midna managed to convince him to stay in bed and read, and he agreed to read a story book they'd brought.

Once it hit midnight, Link fell asleep with the book half-open and on his chest. He drifted off and dreamt throughout the night.

He was alone in what looked like an empty town square. He could hear muffled speaking, a woman and three men. Looking down at himself, Link was once again wearing a green tunic. A baldric was visible, and he could feel both a sword and shield on his back. The town was simple, houses of wood and cobblestone surrounding him. Everything but the setting was the same as his last dream.

After a few moments of standing around, Link turned around and began to walk down a street. The four voices that he first heard greeted and called after him, and three pairs of footsteps followed after him. He strode down the street, seeing people with blurred out faces standing by their homes. A few waved to him, and all seemed glad to see him, despite his inability to see their faces.

The four behind him spoke more, but their voices were distorted and hard to pinpoint. It was like the other dream, clear to see but vague in the details. Link woke up with a jolt when he felt one of the people behind him clap him on the back. His eyes flew open, and he registered the bright light streaming through the windows a few moments later.

Link sat up and yawned, rubbing at his eyes. Midna peered over at him sitting at the desk. "Good morning. Ghirahim's out and doing some sword drills. Damien and Linebeck are out too, working on selling that furniture and stuff. It's around ten in the morning."

"Thanks," Link murmured. "I need to go see Linebeck. Where's he and Damien at right now? I... I need to talk to him." He hopped out of the bed and walked over to Midna.

She was looking through the Twili book, with a notepad at the side. "He's down by the town square, around the other shops. I can show you the way, if you'd like. I haven't checked out the village too much, so I think I'll do that to get a better look."

It was a bright, clear day. The sky even looked clearer than it usually did around the junkyard, more of a natural blue color. On the way to the main streets, Link asked, "Does the sky change further from the junkyard? That... doesn't make much sense in the terms of the size of the sky and the size of the world that I know of."

Midna shrugged, leading him down a cobble road with flowers between the rocks. Sheikah greeted them and showed a friendliness that the Sheikah in the city lacked. Link made a point of greeting them as well. The buildings were beautifully made, with sloped straw and wood roofs. From the time it took them to reach the middle of town, Link could assume that it was a small village, nestled in the mountain-like hills.

The town square was large and gave views to a number of what Link assumed to be small gardens and little training grounds. A few of the buildings around had signs that signified that they were shops. The musical noise of wooden chimes accompanied them as Link and Midna stood in the entrance to the town square for a moment.

Linebeck and Damien had set up by a fountain, the carpentry displayed in front of a simple table they milled around. Damien was talking, with Linebeck organizing some papers on the table. Link and Midna walked over, hearing whatever Damien had been talking about. "...So I'd say I'm doing good, with my dysphoria at an all-time low recently, and I've been having to correct less and less people. I'm still having a hard time growing any facial hair, but I guess that's normal for some men." He rubbed at his chin and glanced casually to the side, blinking upon seeing the two approaching them. "Hi. Need anything?"

Midna shook her head. "Nah, I don't need anything. Link wants to talk with Linebeck, though. Any sales yet?"

Damien faked a dramatic sigh and fanned himself. "Alas, no." He dropped the act and crossed his arms on the table. "We have a bit until the commissioners show up, and it's still a bit early. Want anything? We'll give you a discount on what you want."

Turning his humorous offer down, Midna left Link with the pair of them. He awkwardly shifted from one foot to another, then turned to Linebeck. "Can I talk to you? In secret, if you think we should?"

"Yeah, sure," Linebeck mused. "Just make it quick. I promised to help Damien all day today."

Link promised to make it brief, and they walked around to the other side of the fountain. Damien, on the other side, looked curious, but seemed fair enough to not try and eavesdrop. "He seems really honest," Link murmured.

Linebeck laughed. "I guess. He lies when he needs to, though. He knows how to tweak a price in his favor, and also shares a few habits with me. But, yeah, he's more honest than I am in the long run. What did you need?" Bellum circled his head at a slow pace, not seeming to be paying attention.

Link sighed. "I had another dream last night." He quickly explained it to the attentive engineer, who actually asked him about small details in the dream. "I still couldn't figure out the voices behind me. I wonder if one of them is my creator."

"That would make sense. Both dreams seem to have taken place in a less... destroyed Hyrule. That more than proves that you're from 200 years ago. Your role and... what happened remain a mystery, but we're getting there." Linebeck sighed, crossing his arms. "Just keep all of this in mind. Visiting the rest of Hyrule might provide us with more answers. If you figure anything else out, tell me."

He rummaged around in his pockets, and Bellum floated over to Link. "We ran into a girl, 'bout... 23 years old, saying that she's Impa's older sister. She does a lot of technological work here in Kakariko. Linebeck and I might check her out later, but you might want to meet with her as she's one of the leaders of Kakariko, too. Her name's Purah, in the northeast part of town." Bellum peered back at Linebeck, who had found a cigarette and was lighting it. "It might rain again tonight. If you also want, Ghirahim is down training with some of the Sheikah. I have a feeling that Midna is heading that way, too."

Link quietly thanked the AI and Linebeck and jogged down the road, greeting Damien as he passed. He slowed to look around at the serene village, a stark contrast to the wasteland that he'd become used to in the past month and a half.

It took some searching but Link spotted Ghirahim talking with some Sheikah warriors. Most of them had bows, but others had smaller kodachi swords, identical to the ones the city Sheikah used. None of those in the city had bows, however. Link jogged over, standing by the short fence. Ghirahim was bragging about his track record in swordfights, holding out his saber and showing it off. Link waved at him, managing to catch his attention.

Ghirahim paused, lowering his sword. The Sheikah looked over at Link, who vaulted over the fence and sauntered over. "Can I join? Sorry if I'm interrupting."

The Sheikah looked him over. One of them nodded, and said, "The queen told us of you, Link. We'll gladly let you join. We'll teach you what you'd like."

Link halted, and Ghirahim looked confused as well. "I didn't know that Zelda had let you all know that we were coming."

"We have relations to those in the city, as half of our recruits end up with Impa and her soldiers. Zelda told us to assess your fighting ability and help you with what you want." The Sheikah man gestured to a rack of swords against the building. "Take whichever one you'd like, or you could request a different weapon."

Link nodded, smiling weakly. He had walked over expecting to only watch, but he strode over to the rack and peered at the swords, variations of katanas and other double-edged swords. He immediately took one of the simple steel broadswords and swung it around a few times. "This is okay, right?" The Sheikah nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

The Sheikah all regarded each other, and one of them stood forward. "I'll just spar with you, to get a good idea of your skills. Ghirahim here says that you are an impressive fighter." Off to the side, Ghirahim blinked in surprise, then turned away. "Neither of us should allow our blades to cut into one another, but, if that does happen, I should hope that it's an accident."

Link laughed weakly but cut himself off to slip into a fighting stance as the Sheikah did the same. The other Sheikah backed up, switching their attention between the challenging Sheikah woman and Link. They stared each other down before charging.

Ghirahim sighed and leaned aginst the fence, his elbows on the smooth wood. It was quickly obvious that Link was more skilled, but the Sheikah had speedy reflexes, fast enough to react and hop out of the way. However, Link was also easily dodging her careful attacks. With a heavy sigh, Ghirahim decided that he wasn't needed and jammed his saber back into its scabbard.

"He keeps getting into fights," Midna murmured, nearly making Ghirahim scream. He whipped around to face her smirk. "Jumpy? Sorry."

"Jerk," Ghirahim snapped, but he pacified quickly enough to lean against the fence again. The pair of them silently watched for a moment, and Ghirahim sighed. "He's supposed to meet with whoever runs this place and introduce himself. Should we have him tell them that he's a robot?"

Midna shrugged. "I say we leave that to Linebeck. Agreed?"

"Sure. Let's go ask him."

Linebeck seemed more focused on the burning end of his cigarette than Midna and Ghirahim as they explained to him why Link's status as a robot should be revealed to the Sheikah leaders. He turned it over in his fingers, nodding idly whenever he thought it appropriate. Once they finished, he glanced over at Damien, who was sorting the day's profits. "I'll be back in... maybe a few hours."

Damien nodded with a thin smile. Linebeck turned his attention back over to his exasperated friends and gestured for them to follow him. "C'mon, we can walk while we talk."

"Did you listen to us?" Ghirahim sighed. "You seemed real interested in your cigarette while we talked."

"Bellum got everything you said. That's good enough. But we should take some time to mull it over, telling the Sheikah leaders about Link being a robot." He took a short drag from his cigarette and slowly blew out the smoke, prompting Midna and Ghirahim to turn away. "I'm going to check out their local lab- two of their three leaders work there."

Ghirahim scowled. "At least give us some kind of answer right now. What if they want to meet him today? Those Sheikah that he's sparring with told us that the queen let them know he was coming."

"I'll mull it over, and I'll be able to talk to two of the leaders. I'll figure it out. Anything new from your book, Midna?"

She smiled weakly. "Yeah, actually, and I'm now a little bit worried."

"What?"

Midna cleared her throat. "Apparently, direct sunlight can kill a Twili. We're supposed to die in sunlight, and yet I've spent the better part of a year wandering around a wasteland with a general lack of clouds."

All three of them stopped in place, Linebeck and Ghirahim turned to face Midna. Ghirahim spoke first, talking slowly. "Do you think that means... you're not fully Twili? I mean, you line up with everything else, right?"

"Wait-" Linebeck crossed his arms. "You lost your memories. What if something in your past caused you to be immune to that? Otherwise it doesn't make much sense." A manic smile spread across his face. "I love this shit- damning answers just lead to more mysteries. Whatever. It's supposed to pour tonight. The two of you can mull this over with Link."

He offered them a wave and turned on heel to keep walking away Ghirahim and Midna sighed and turned back to find Link.


	16. Yiga on the Rooftops

By late afternoon, it was pouring rain. Puddles gathered in the cobble streets as animals and people alike ran for shelter. The Sheikah that Link was sparring with pulled him inside to continue. He sparred with a number of other Sheikah warriors before they taught him new sword drills. Link caught on to them quick enough, as if they were with the rest of his programmed skills. A drenched Midna and Ghirahim met him in the dojo, drying out from the rain.

During a break in the drills, Link rolled his shoulders while the other Sheikah switched out their weapons. "What are you two doing here?" he asked Ghirahim and Midna.

"Looking for you," Ghirahim muttered. "Linebeck wasn't much help."

"Do you want to spar with us?" Link slowly asked, glancing back over his shoulder at the Sheikah. "Zelda did say that it would be a good idea for us to pick up some skills along the way."

Midna joined him for the next sparring match, but Ghirahim remained on the bench, watching. She picked up a spear to use and split off to one half of the room to spar with some other Sheikah. The entire room was well-lit by lamps and the like, and the windows were covered up to provide the illusion that there was no storm outside.

Midna was offered a number of tips by a Sheikah girl with a similar spear. They mirrored each other for some time, and the focus on Midna's face showed her determination. On the other side of the room, Link was quickly learning everything he was taught, stopping every so often to test out new movements in sparring matches that left his opponent bewildered by his skill. Ghirahim decided to watch Midna's part of the room.

The rain outside only intensified as time wore on, and it was advised that they wait out the storm in the dojo. Link kept his sword with himself to run more drills while Ghirahim and Midna talked. His arms ached from the constant movement, but he swung his sword over and over again, etching the motion into his memory logs. "Does it rain here often?" he loudly asked, shooting a look over at the Sheikah.

The one he sparred with the most, a young woman, only shrugged. "Not really, but it's always a heavy rain when it does. Good for the crops, I suppose."

"What's the tech like here? A friend of mine should be at your lab."

"Well, Purah and Robbie, two of our three leaders, work there a lot. Some of their tech goes to the castle, but they mostly make stuff to help us out here. Is your friend an inventor?"

"An engineer. He came here with the rest of us and his carpenter boyfriend."

"Carpenter? You mean Damien?" Most of the Sheikah looked his way at the mention of his name. "He's a bit famous to us. We didn't know he was dating someone. Who's the engineer?"

Link paused in his drills. "His name's Linebeck Lancrester. Why's Damien famous around here?"

"Kakariko is more than a farming town- Purah and Robbie's tech helps us as a medical-type town as well. While Zora's Domain is the place to go for quick healing and saving lives, we can help without magic and with surgery. Some things can't be done with magic. We were therefore able to help Damien arrange for a few surgeries. Afterwards, he decided that he was infinitely in our debt, and promised to offer discounts on all of his works and promised to visit often to offer his wares. His stuff's really good and he seems to be the only one who's willing to go between Kakariko and the city, so we appreciate him."

Link smiled. That was new information. Damien had said that he had been to Kakariko a few times, but he hadn't mentioned the significance the town had to him. "That's cool." He expected no response and didn't get one. He continued his drills, focused on the task as the minutes dragged by. The storm only got worse.

The rain drumming down on the roof nearly drowned out every other noise outside, and yet, a dull_ thud_ was heard by the front door. Everyone peered at the door, a heavy silence settling over them all. Link bit as his bottom lip and peered over at the Sheikah. "I'll go check that out. The rain won't bother me like with anyone else."

He walked over to the door, and Midna stopped the Sheikah rushing over to him. "Don't worry. He's got it. Let him handle whatever it is. We owe you guys, anyways."

Link smiled at the Sheikah over his shoulder and tightened his grip on the sword in his hand. It was probably a shingle falling off, anyways.

Link stepped out the doorway and shut the door behind him and was buffeted by rain. His wire hair immediately dampened, and he felt a deep cold before his body automatically began to heat up. The torrent of rain made it difficult to see very far, masking the ends of the streets in a constantly moving wall of gray. There was no sign that anything had fallen, and Link circled the area around where the thud had sounded from.

A dim _twang _sounded from behind Link, and agony exploded from his right shoulder. He craned his neck around to check, finding an arrow deep in his shoulder, and saw a figure with a curved bow standing on the roof behind him. Another arrow was shot, and Link ducked out of the way, sprinting down the alleyway of the building in search for a way up.

Link found and forced himself up a slick ladder, ripping the arrow out of his shoulder once on the slippery roof. If he wasn't careful, he could lose his balance. He carefully shuffled up and over to the other end of the roof, staring at the enemies that we obviously Yiga. Three of them stood out to him, with perhaps eight others, all in the mask and various red clothing. Each of the three in front had a black scarf. One held a bow, an arrow nocked but not aimed, another gripped a long spear with the spearhead angled down, and the axe wielding Yiga from the castle faced him from across the gap between buildings.

"What do you want?!" Link asked, hoping that his shouting was audible above the rain. He gripped his sword with both hands, knees bent, prepared to move. The Yiga only stared at him, their impassive masks giving no hints. The Yiga with the axe held up his hand. He was the only one without his weapon in hand, the axe strapped to his back. He snapped his fingers and disappeared in a cloud of paper amulets as the eight sickle-wielding Yiga lunged over the gap in the buildings.

They all attacked Link at once, and he slipped into a crouch and drove his sword into the hip of one of the Yiga. Once the blade scraped against bone, the Yiga escaped in a cloud of amulets, and Link jumped away in the gap as the sickles dug into the shingles. Slipping precariously, Link flung himself on to the adjacent roof, jumping farther than he had expected. The Yiga sprinted after him, dim shapes in the rain.

Link grabbed onto the top of the slippery rooftop, deflecting the first sickle that was swung at his face. A second Yiga managed to dig the tip of their sickle into his shoulder, but it was dislodged when Link planted a kick in their chest, flinging them off the roof as he stumbled away. A handful of paper slips in the wind told him of only six Yiga left. The black scarfed Yiga only watched. Link scuttled back and twisted around to get to his feet. His feet slipped and his artificial heartbeat skipped. Link jabbed the tip of his sword between two shingles, steadying himself.

Two of the Yiga managed to corner him, and Link blocked one attack and fluidly slashed the other from shoulder to hip. The blood that flew was joined by the crimson amulets. The rain was beginning to give Link a headache. He parried the next sickle attack and wrested the weapon from the assassin's hands and thrust his blade into their shoulder. This time, they stumbled back, taking a few moments to disappear like the others.

The final two had different weapons, full circles with sharp spikes along the edge. These Yiga had armor on their chests and forearms, so they already looked more competent. They traded fierce blows with Link, who managed to block and dodge hits as they forced him closer and closer to the edge. A few lucky hits tore synthetic skin off of Link's arms. One of the Yiga lunged forward, catching Link's sword in the loop of their weapon. They tugged back and nearly knocked the sword out of Link's hands, but he pulled back harder, ducking and twisting around to throw the Yiga off the roof.

Link leapt to the next rooftop, follow closely by the last Yiga, and they continued their fight, metal clashing and throwing sparks that the rain immediately snuffed out. With a strained huff, Link riposted and managed to nick the Yiga's side. The circular shape of the Yiga's weapon made it harder to parry and block, so Link slipped back, stopping his rapid descent down the slope by jabbing his foot against the lifted singles at the end. The Yiga followed, and Link blocked their slash and stamped a foot on their left knee. A scream followed a brief snapping noise, and the Yiga disappeared.

Link groaned in relief, the rain soaking him to his endoskeleton as he caught his breath. Zelda had told him that the Yiga were nothing but a ragtag rebellion. They seemed more like a band of highly skilled assassins. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the lightning's blue flash illuminated the spear and bow Yiga, still watching him.

Link scrambled to the peak of the roof. He'd been trailed around buildings circling the one the two ringmasters were on. The Yiga with the bow had a long scarf, fluttering in the wind. Their leather gauntlets and greaves were painted crimson red, and they wore a short maroon cloak. They drew back their arrow and aimed, and Link stumbled to the side as the arrow whizzed by his face.

The Yiga with the spear remained unmoving as their companion nocked another arrow. Their spear was pitch black, the blade faintly dyed red. A brighter red cloak covered most of their body, with the arm holding the spear being the only part visible. The pair of them, standing side-by-side, looked ominous, like a pair of demons. Another arrow was shot, and it almost took out one of Link's ears.

The sound of the rain blended together into a faint drone of noise as Link steadied his breathing. The attack in the restaurant in the city had been led by one of the Yiga's black-scarfed elites, but, in hindsight, the katana-wielding Yiga seemed to be holding back along with the others he brought with him. The axe user at the castle was more of a message bearer, but they were the ones who gave the order to attack him just now. He had yet to be attacked full force by one of the Yiga's elite members, much less two of them at once.

Lightning flashed again, followed momentarily by more thunder, and the spear wielding Yiga launched themselves off the rooftop and sprinted, hopping from roof to roof at Link. They reached Link just as he could react, knocking away the slim blade. The Yiga deftly spun their spear and jabbed it at Link once again, and fluidly drew it back to continue spinning it. Their movements were fast, so fast that even Link, with his robotic limbs and heightened senses and skills, had difficulty blocking and dodging. The Yiga even batted at Link with the butt of the spear, elegantly twirling it in their hands, their feet smoothly shifting and sliding to advance on Link or keep their grip on the wet roof. It was like a deadly dance of sorts.

Ghirahim's lessons on reach were thrown out of Link's mind as he felt anger against his enemy, now hoping to get as close as possible to win. Link forced himself forward, and the Yiga carefully inched back, only speeding up. An arrow imbedded itself in Link's side, and the spear Yiga managed to bury the blade in Link's shoulder. He screamed, the sword nearly slipping out of his hands. Pain throbbed in his shoulder as the Yiga drove the blade in further, grinding against the metal inside.

With a burst of rage, Link grabbed at the arrow in his side and ripped it out, shoving it between two of the Yiga's ribs before they could jump away. A strained groan emanated from behind the smooth mask, and Link got a face full of red amulets as they disappeared. The pressure in his shoulder was relived at the absence of the spear as well. His programming automatically ran a diagnosis on the damage as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, ignoring as his feet slipped. The silent voice in his mind informed him of no damage to wires or essential structures once he reached the roof of the dojo, panting and in agony.

The bow Yiga drew back another arrow, and Link, with a running start, launched himself to their roof with a wild roar. The pain and pure frustration left him boiling over with rage and hate aimed at the Yiga. Damn any second thoughts he had had about helping Zelda- he was glad to dismantle the Yiga if this was how their common attacks were played out- injuring and mocking. Another arrow found its way into his chest, but he didn't bother ripping it out as he landed in a heap on the roof, the Yiga stumbling back.

"Coward!" Link snapped, jabbing the sword into the roof and hauling himself up straight. "What do you want? What are your goals?"

The Yiga seemed to regard him, then, in a soft voice, said, "We want to see Zelda dead along with the Sheikah that stand with her."

"Why attack innocents?!" Link seethed, swaying slightly.

The Yiga tilted their head to the side. "We attack the Sheikah and those who align themselves with Zelda- we have not targeted an innocent."

The Yiga hopped back to avoid Link's slash and disappeared in yet another all-too familiar cloud of paper- but not before shooting one last arrow into Link's throat. He barely reacted to the impact and the pain. The sound of the rain returned to him, oppressively covering up every other sound. Link let go of his sword, faintly hearing it slid down the roof and onto the ground. His own body followed after, going limp as he tumbled off the roof. The arrow in his throat was annoying at most. The door to the dojo was thrown open, Ghirahim and Midna surging out, shouting.

They huddled around him, frantically trying to get him to respond, but Link only slowly blinked, lethargically peering around. The rain began to slow down as they picked him up and carry him down the street, doing their best to cover his exposed endoskeleton and wiring. As the sky cleared, doors opened and people went outside to check the weather, and Midna and Ghirahim did their best to rush him to the Sheikah's lab.

* * *

"...I think I lost my temper," Link mused.

Linebeck paused. "Hm?" He didn't look up from his repairs, but he hesitated. "What are you talking about?"

Link frowned. After he'd been brought to the Sheikah lab in the hopes of finding Linebeck, the three of them managed to get him to a room where they would be unbothered during repairs. He had been woken up halfway through the repairs. Linebeck fixed some frayed wires and dents in his skeleton, but there would be no permanent damage. "Did I tell you what happened?"

Linebeck shook his head. Before Link could start, Midna explained, "During the rain, we heard a thud outside the dojo, and he went out to check. We found him torn apart about ten minutes after."

"Yeah," Link muttered. "The Yiga attacked me again. Three of those 'black scarf' Yiga set a bunch of other Yiga on me. The axe guy was back, but he left before the others attacked me. Six Yiga had sickles, while the other two had some... weird circle swords, I guess. They did a lot of damage. The other two black-scarf Yiga attacked me after the others. The one with the spear did the rest of the damage, but I feel like the one with the bow gave me the most trouble. They... the one with the bow actually talked to me, though."

Link sat up properly, getting a look at the room for once. It was mostly clear, aside from a few tables, one with Linebeck's repair tools. Midna and Ghirahim lingered by the door. "You said you lost your temper," Linebeck muttered, snapping Link back to the conversation at hand.

"Oh, yeah. During a lot of the fight, I just felt really mad. I don't know how to describe it but having to fight against the Yiga really made me angry. The bow Yiga talked to me after I shouted at them, asking what they wanted and why they hurt people. They want to kill Zelda and pretty much everyone allied with her and claimed that they never hurt innocents." Link held out his arm to let Linebeck fix a few more tears. "At first, I wasn't too sure whether or not to really trust Zelda and agree with the role of 'hero', but the Yiga seem to want to take down pretty much everything."

"You don't know that," Linebeck muttered.

"He's got a point," Midna sighed. Ghirahim nodded solemnly. "We... don't have much of a reason to do as Zelda says, anyways. Just... telling you that you're this supposed hero is a bit much." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I trust her, I do, and I'd hate for the queen and the Sheikah to get killed, but it's not fair for her to throw the heavy role of 'hero' at you."

Link scowled. "But- I need a purpose!" he snapped. "I just... woke up one day without a memory! I was created for a reason, what if this is it? I'm named after the hero and apparently have the same likeness."

"We woke up with no memory, too," Ghirahim retorted. "We have no past. You're the only one who's so desperate to find something to do. As far as I can see, you'd gladly abandon us as long as it means you find a damned 'purpose'. Who gives a damn what you were made for? That was probably 200 years ago! That was a whole different world back then."

"He's got a point," Linebeck mused, moving on to his right arm. "What if you were made to be a hero? Sorry to say it, but you probably failed the first time. Doesn't mean you need to pick the mantle back up. Zelda could've picked someone else, someone who actually was ready and willing for the role." He nonchalantly looked up at Link. "Not to say that you're not, but I'm saying that you don't need to do this. I know we all want answers, and you guys want to stop the Yiga, but just think. There's not much motive."

Link scowled, falling back onto his back again. Linebeck said nothing about it but let out a slow breath as he moved on to fixing Link's shoulder. "...Why shouldn't we help Zelda?" asked Link, frowning. "I mean, she is the one who's keeping Hyrule in line by ruling the city."

"But what does she do?" Midna quietly asked. "She is queen, yes. But-"

"It's a burnt-out world," Link snapped. "She's keeping things together! Rebuilding Hyrule." The other three went silent. Bellum, who had been passively hovering around Linebeck's hands, nervously glanced up at Link. "She's not doing much because there isn't much to do right now. The other towns are handling themselves, but there looks to be a disconnect. At the least, we can try and eradicate the Yiga and help rebuild the destroyed Hyrule. We can try and figure out what happened and try to prevent it."

The group regarded each other for a few moments. "He's got a point," Ghirahim sighed, glaring at Link. "We all still have our own separate reasons, though. You can be the hero if you're so desperate for a purpose."

There was a tension in the room, and Link knew that it was his fault that it was there. He hadn't said much, but there were rifts between him and the others now, at least for a short period of time. "Sorry," he muttered. "I didn't mean to upset you guys or anything. I'm still just a bit... angry about what happened. It's okay if you don't want to get involved in this, but I do want to help if I'm needed."

"Yeah," Midna sighed. "We're all at fault here. I mean..." She laughed nervously. "We can all agree that the Yiga need to be destroyed. Zelda's whole bit about that cycle is valid, but we have little evidence about that one."

The door slid open and a pair of Sheikah walked in. Link froze on the table, and Linebeck frantically tugged parts of Link's tunic over the noticeable uncovered wiring and metal. Both of the Sheikah had their hair tied up, identical peculiar metal masks set atop their head, like they would be used at some point. They both wore similar red and white jackets with dark blue suits underneath. The woman paused, peering around the room. "Oh! Are we interrupting something? We wanted to talk, but if you need us to leave-"

"I-It's fine," Linebeck stammered, straightening up. "Did you guys need something?"

Ghirahim frowned. "You know these two?"

"Robbie and Purah. Two of the Kakariko leaders. Impa is apparently the third." Linebeck rubbed at the back of his neck. "So. Uh. Why are you two here?"

"We head that your robot fought off a bunch of Yiga," the guy, Robbie, said. "Sorry for barging in, but we wanted to talk."

The air in the room turned icy. Midna, Ghirahim, and Linebeck all exchanged worried looks, and Link twitched. "...Robot?" Linebeck slowly asked. "Who-"

"On the table!" Purah chirped. "Oh, sorry. Zelda sent us a letter. We know that Link's a robot. Don't worry, though, we haven't told anyone!" She crossed her arms with a weak smile. "How bad damaged is he?"

Link carefully sat up while Linebeck awkwardly told them that he had everything under control. Midna and Ghirahim were silent, feeling forgotten while Link was discussed. The robot looked lost, shooting a look that whispered 'help me' at the two in the corner. Midna cleared her throat, getting the attention of Linebeck and the two Sheikah. She smiled at Linebeck. "Could you guys talk later? Link needs repairs, and he's more than just a hunk of metal."

"Oh, of course! We know he may also be the hero-"

"I mean he has feelings, a thought process, and feels pain." Midna waved at them to leave. "We'll get you back when we're done."

Once they were gone, Ghirahim sighed to himself, the quaver in his voice indicating stifled laughter. "You, uh, already talked to them?"

Linebeck shrugged, returning to work on Link's damage. "Yeah. Why?"

"I just think it's funny that while Link was getting his ass kicked by the Yiga, you were having a pleasant talk with two of the village's leaders." The venomous look that Link gave Ghirahim did nothing to make him stop. "A fun contrast. Your favorite project got ripped to shreds and you didn't even know."

Link opened his mouth to retort, but Linebeck cut him off. "It's getting late, now. Once I've fixed Link up, it'd be good for the rest of you to go back to your room. I'll talk to Robbie and Purah. How long are we staying for?"

"Koko said about three days." Midna paused to watch Linebeck cover up the gash in Link's shoulder. "I'm actually going to go see her now. She offered to give me some tips on the Sheikah fighting style and some input on the Yiga. If I remember correctly, we're going to Zora's Domain next. After that, Rito Village, then Goron City, and Gerudo Town last." She grinned. "We can take a few extra hours on the way to check on our home. It's on the way, just about a mile off the route."

"I need to check on Rusty's food and water," Linebeck mused. "I'll see if I can get any stuff for him while we're here. Damien and I made a fair bit of money. He sold the commissions and got to start on new projects while the rest were sold. What's Zora's Domain like, do you think?"

"Lots of water," Ghirahim murmured. He eyed Linebeck with a humorous smile. "Though I doubt you won't be the biggest fan of it, since you can't actually swim."

"You can't swim either," Linebeck snapped. "As far as I know, Midna is the only one here who knows how to swim. Can you swim, Link?"

Link pursed his lips. "Uh. I'm sure I was programmed to swim. Who are the leaders in Zora's Domain? Who are the leaders in all of the cities?"

Midna cleared her throat, looking rather excited. "Well, I've done a bit on research on this subject, and I'm a little more interested since I know that I'm the only one of my kind in Hyrule right now. Zora's Domain has a royal family similar to the one in the Hylian kingdom. Their current king is King Dorephan, and the princess is Mipha with her little brother, Sidon. The Zora have a popular band, but they're not necessarily important.

"The Gorons have a... tribal leader, I suppose. The current leader is Darunia, and their strongest warrior is Daruk. There's not much to say about them. They're all really nice.

The Rito have two different leaders, depending on which type of Rito. The leader of the more human Rito... doesn't have a name. They just call him the Chieftan, really. His son is actually Komali, and he works in that shop with Medli mostly to get better at talking with people. With the more birdlike Rito is their leader Kaneli. Revali is actually the captain of the Rito warriors.

"Last is the Gerudo, and they have no official leader as of right now. Urbosa stands as the placeholder right now, and despite casual visits to the city with Nabooru, she takes her job seriously. Riju is slated to be leader after her if no male Gerudo is born before then. The Gerudo have a tradition they hold very dearly about that whole thing." Midna sighed to herself. "Apparently, in the kingdom of Twilight, the most powerful magic-user was appointed the ruler."

"Interesting," Ghirahim muttered. "Can't wait to meet them, too." Midna roughly elbowed him in the side.

Linebeck finished up the last of his repairs and sent Link and the others off. There were puddles in the streets, and people were occasionally peering at the sky. On the way back to the inn, they ran into Damien, looking a little disheveled. "I-I heard that you were attacked by some Yiga!" He burst out upon seeing Link. "What happened?"

Link halted, smiling awkwardly. "O-oh, it's nothing. They lured me out and attacked me in the rain, but I drove them off. I was... badly damaged, but Linebeck just got done fixing me up." Self-consciously, he placed a hand over the rip in his tunic. "He says he'll fix my clothes tonight. How'd you hear about the Yiga attack?"

"Some Sheikah told me about it. I was just making sure that you're alright. It's not every day that you hear that some Yiga got into Kakariko, after all! They must've been real tough to have given you a challenge, huh?" Damien crossed his arms with a sigh. "In the rain, too... Damn. No wonder you won that tournament."

"You're cheerful," Link said, feeling a bit sheepish.

"Thanks, I try. Linebeck's at the lab, right? Down the street? He told me that he was going to get some parts and try and... figure out some kind of language." Link thought back to the first few notes Linebeck had written about him. The engineer had mentioned that the name 'Link' was written on Link's back, along with more text in an undecipherable language. Link himself couldn't see what was written, even while looking in a mirror, but rubbing his hand against his back implied of slightly risen shapes. It would make a fair bit of sense for Linebeck to try and see if the Sheikah knew anything. Kakariko came off as a very traditional village, but he could see evidence of advanced technology, like stuff in the city.

"He'll have no trouble getting what he wants," said Midna, smiling pleasantly at Damien. "He's charismatic enough. But, yeah, he's at the lab." She pointed down the street. "Dunno for how long, though."

Damien thanked them and jogged off. Ghirahim placed his hands on his hips with a heavy sigh. "Strange that word gets around so quickly." He turned on heel and continued down the street, chin high. "I suppose it makes sense. Good thing word about you being a robot didn't get out." Ghirahim glanced back at Link with a thin smile. "Hopefully, if you do end up being some kind of prophesied hero, that should be allowed to become public knowledge."

Link rubbed the back of his neck, silent. Midna rubbed him on the shoulder. "Who cares? Link fought off some Yiga. He's proven that he can fight against them." She tousled his hair.

Link pushed her hand away. "Yeah. I still need to get better, though. Learning from around Hyrule should help, right?!"

Ghirahim scoffed. "I sure hope it would. And I hope my damn magic starts improving, too. That stupid book said I was a powerful, magic-using demon lord, right? I'm not seeing any evidence."

"Practice," Midna sighed. "We just need practice. My magic sucks, too. From what I heard, the Zora have some talented healers. They might be able to help us with our magic."

"The book documented my magic as being related to short-distance teleportation and_ knives_. I'm sure they'll help."

"Do you think I can learn magic?" Link quietly asked.

Ghirahim scoffed. "I doubt it. Linebeck definitely would've told us if he found anything like that out about you, encrypted programming or not."


	17. A Visitor in Zora's Domain

Link devoted the rest of his time in Kakariko to training, taking advantage of how he could sleep at night to make up for not eating in the day. The way he tired slowly made it difficult for everyone else to catch up with him, though. A few more skilled Sheikah taught him tactics against other weapons and showed off some of their technology during breaks, none of it related to battle. Most were lights, doors, and medical equipment. Quality of life items.

Ghirahim and Midna periodically joined him, but they had their own agenda. Linebeck spent a majority of his time with Damien, helping with selling carpentry and working on whatever his own new projects were. When any of them tried to ask what he was working on, he just told them that he was making good progress. Bellum told Link that Linebeck was being borderline obsessive over what he was working on. It was apparently nothing unusual, though.

The day after the storm was clear and sunny. Link spend his time after the training to watch some of the farmers, offering a few rupees for a small sack of carrots. He brought it back to the inn and managed to coerce Ghirahim and Midna to buy a few more ingredients so the three of them could make a stew. It turned out pretty well, and they offered some to Linebeck and Damien. The five of them spent the afternoon in the larger of their two rooms, sitting at the table with the windows open.

Damien stabbed at the carrot chunks at the bottom of his bowl, peering up at Ghirahim. "Zora's Domain tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Link tossed his spoon into the sink. Ghirahim frowned at it, then got to washing it. "I need to get better to fight against the Yiga. Who knows what they're planning?" Link paused. "What do you think they want?"

Damien frowned. "I mean. There are rumors that this 'Ganondorf' guy is their leader, and that he's the male Gerudo this century. They want to kill Zelda, yeah, and get rid of the Sheikah. Why do they want that, though? I doubt they want to rule Hyrule."

Behind the table, there was a muffled clattering in the sink. Ghirahim peered in, grimacing. "Didn't know plates could break underwater."

"I'm not fixing that for you, Ghirahim." Linebeck sighed. "I think the Yiga want the tech. I mean, you have to admit that Zelda and the Sheikah are hoarding some good tech. But that's not really a good motive to kill them and terrorize citizens. But if they aim to kill people who support them... maybe they want to clean their slate and become the leaders of Hyrule. Maybe taking over does make sense."

Everyone else in the room regarded him silently. Even Bellum squinted at him, then muttered, "Good suggestion. Still weak."

"Why did I program you to be an asshole?" Linebeck asked, waving the AI away. "Anyways. Koko's actually going to have us go to the domain starting tonight."

"Why?!"

"She said something about needing to meet someone there. Either way, we need to be in that wagon by midnight. Damien, need any help packing your stuff up? I have nothing to do until then."

Damien nodded, following Linebeck out the room. Midna sighed, straightening out the blankets on her bed. "He could've told us earlier. Oh, well. Not like we have much to do..." she glared at Ghirahim. "Fix whatever you've broken. I don't want us to be known for breaking some plates during our first visit here."

The demon stuck his tongue out at Midna. "You try. Maybe you can make them float."

"My magic is more about teleportation, mimicry, and a general harnessing of power. I can only levitate small objects right now."

"You sound more impressive than me," Ghirahim huffed. "But that is impossible. I should be able to create barriers, knives, and summon new swords... rather battle-oriented, as I had hoped. We should both be able to teleport, however. I've been doing quite a bit of reading." He pursed his lips, jabbing his hands into the water in the sink. "We should practice some magic together. I can learn well enough on my own, but perhaps we could learn from each other... a demon lord from a bygone era and a fabled Twili."

"Both with no memories," Midna added. "Magic sounds cool, though. We all have our own skills, huh?"

"Yeah!" Link chirped, hoping he didn't sound desperate to be included. "Midna, you keep us in line mostly and do most of the social work, Ghirahim's really aggressive so... negotiator?"

"Team protector, I suppose."

"Yeah! I'm the hero, then, driving us on! Linebeck's the tech guy. I think that's about it. He's... a bit paranoid, so I guess he keeps us prepared for stuff?"

Midna scoffed. "The guy has no sense of self-preservation, but I guess he does make sure we keep our eyes open. I think he's the most detached. Ironically, he's somehow the only part of this team with a significant other."

"Good for him," mused Ghirahim in a tone of voice that was softer than Link anticipated. He pulled the broken plate out of the water and set it on the counter. His hand went back in and the water drained from the sink. "The three of us have stuff to learn over this time, learning to be a hero or figuring out magic, and Linebeck's just fiddling with whatever projects he can dig up. At least he has Damien to drag him out into interacting with actual people." He began drying off the plates, muttering under his breath.

Link slid off his chair and got to packing his own bag. He only needed to pack his sword and assorted items, since he didn't need a change of clothes. "I had fun while we were here, despite being torn apart by the Yiga. I think Zora's Domain should be safer. I heard that they're good with spears." He zipped up his bag and set it on his bed.

Two hours and a small container of glue later, Ghirahim decided to hide the obviously cracked plate in the back of the cupboard. He glanced over his shoulder. "Apparently Damien and Linebeck don't have a little kitchen in their room."

"Koko got us a nice one," Midna murmured. "The one that Damien and Linebeck got was smaller, probably for one person, but they shared the bed. Dunno what Koko had in mind, but I don't think she knew that Linebeck doesn't like being touched."

Link pursed his lips. "Is Linebeck okay with being touched while sleeping? I know he's more tolerant of Damien."

"He sleeps on the edge," Midna muttered. "I once found that he'd fallen off his bed in the middle of the night. Turns out he's a heavy sleeper, too. I think he twitches if you touch him, but it takes a lot of touching to actually wake him. The smell of coffee works, too."

"I learned that a few weeks ago," Link mused. "Well, I'm probably going to wait at the wagons. We've got about... five hours." He picked his bag up and smiled at the others. "See you guys at midnight."

Little happened until midnight, and the rest of the group met with Link at the wagon. Koko was a few minutes late but got them going once they were all ready. Ghirahim huddled up in a corner with a blanket and fell asleep rather quickly. Midna found her Twili book and went back to figuring out why sunlight didn't kill her. Link inspected his guardian sword, occasionally peering at Linebeck and Damien. "...How did you two meet?"

"We ran into each other in the city's marketplace and it turned out that Damien was looking for someone to repair one of his shop's lights."

Link smiled humorously. "Was it love at first sight?"

Linebeck scowled. Damien glanced between them, then faintly smiled. "Did Linebeck give you his preachy love at first sight spiel?"

"Yeah."

Linebeck rolled his eyes as Damien said, "Yeah, he's got a few things wrong, but he's got the spirit. If I'm honest, it took us at least a few weeks before I think either of us realized we were attracted to each other. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Link said. "You're the fifth person I actually know. I've only been awake for about two months, so I guess that makes sense. Have you been to Zora's Domain?"

"A few times. It's a bit humid, so I'm not a big fan, and it smells very strongly of fish. The royal family there is nice, but the prince, Sidon, is pretty shy. I'd recommend against seeking him out. I've managed to talk with him at one point, though. He's a nice kid." Damien dug through his bag and withdrew a cylinder of wood and a small knife. He handed both items over to Linebeck. "They don't take wooden furniture, though, so I won't have much to do. Why are you guys going around the world like this, though? What's Zelda got you guys doing?"

Linebeck paused in carving a shape into the wood. "We... If we wanted to tell you, I think we'd have to run it by her. You don't need to worry, though. It shouldn't put you in danger unless you get attacked by the Yiga." He peered at the wood in his hands, then back up at Link. "I actually need to talk to you about something when we stop. Maybe once we get to Zora's Domain."

Link frowned but nodded. "Yeah, sure. Can you, uh, tell me what you want to talk to?"

Linebeck stuck his tongue out at Link. "Nope. Only once we get there."

With a sigh, Link only leaned back against the wall of the wagon, smiling weakly. "Fine. Good night, then."

* * *

Koko woke the group early in the morning, looking tired herself. They'd stopped at Rain Keep, and it took Link's tired eyes a few moments to recognize his home. Linebeck practically dragged him out of the wagon, muttering that they could talk there instead. Ghirahim and Midna watched them walking around the corner and said nothing.

"What do you want?" Link mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "It's gotta be important if you're actually touching me." He nudged at Linebeck's hand, wrapped around his forearm. The engineer flinched away and sighed, leaning against the wall. Link frowned, shifting from foot to foot. Damien peered around the side of the house but didn't bother them and walked away.

Linebeck tugged his goggles down around his neck. "Okay. I'm not going to test this because this has only happened a few times. Have you ever felt a jolt or something when we lock eyes? Bellum tells me that my eyes flash when that happens, too."

Link thought for a few moments, then nodded. "Yeah, I think that's happened a few times. It's really weird. I can make eye contact with other robots- providing they have eyes- and nothing like that happens. It's rare, too. Do you know why it happens?" He smiled weakly. They had enough mysteries on their plate. If just one of them could be solved, it'd give them all a moment of relief.

Linebeck shook his head, much to Link's disappointment. "I'm not quite sure, and Bellum isn't either. It clearly hints at some kind of connection between us. Hell, there are weird connections between all of us. I was just checking that you felt it, too. I'll look into it soon, though. For now, I need to check on Rusty's food and water."

He left to do as he'd said, and Link found Ghirahim tending to the blueberry plants. He was silently collecting ripe blueberries in a bucket. It was only when Link stepped on an especially brittle twig did he notice him. "Hey. Want to help me with this?"

Link wordlessly bent down and plucked a few blueberries off one of the bushes, tossing it into Ghirahim's bucket. "...What are you going to do in Zora's Domain?"

"Midna and I are going to practice our magic," He murmured. "Some Zora can do minor healing magic. It's not really what we're looking for, but it's better than nothing. You?" Ghirahim skimmed the one plant to check for any remaining berries, then moved onto the next one. "More relentless training? We don't have a quest, so we're practically just sightseeing with the inconvenience of the Yiga breathing down our necks."

Link sighed. "Yeah. Wonder who Koko needs to meet there."

"Dunno. She wants us to get back in the wagon in a few minutes, though, so we'll be able to meet them later today."

Koko called them back to the wagon once Ghirahim and Link finished collecting the blueberries, putting them in the house's cold storage box. They were off the moment the last person got back on. "Nice house," Damien murmured. "How did you guys find that thing?"

"We ran into it right after waking up a year ago," Midna explained. "I'm surprised it wasn't torn down or already being used. We're pretty lucky."

Damien grinned. "Yeah. I guess you guys are. Cool. Hey, Link?"

Link blinked. "Yeah?"

"I heard there are some good trees around the Domain, but some nasty lizalfos, too. Could you come with me and protect me while I get some wood?"

With a quick glance at Linebeck, Link nodded. "Yeah, sure. Gladly. Why not ask Linebeck or Midna or Ghirahim?"

He only smiled. "Well, Linebeck's not the best fighter and I don't want him getting hurt, while the others are working on magic, right? If you can fight off a bunch of Yiga, you can handle some oversized lizards." Damien rubbed the back of his head. "If you want, I can pay you a bit for it."

"Oh, no, it's okay!" Link stammered, waving his hands. "We got plenty of money at the tournament. I'll do it for free."

It took a few miles before the wasteland's dry grass became greener, and the trees became denser. They came across a river at one point, going over a cobble bridge to continue forward. Deer and birds were seen among the plants. They saw hills and small caves and found the landscape to be similar to what was around Kakariko village. The next bridge was made of silver and luminous stones, and spear-wielding Zora waved at them from atop towers of the same materials. Shouting from her post at the front of the wagons, Koko told them that the Zora reigned over this part of Hyrule.

They came across a long bridge, the wide river slowing calmly below. Off in the distance, Link could see that the river opened up into an enormous lake. Zora's Domain was most likely located there. A few lizalfos watched the wagons from atop a cliff but did nothing to attack. The trees around were pine, with the occasional apple tree. Damien seemed to be staring at the passing forest. Linebeck was drawing something in a notebook of his.

Bellum appeared by Link's head, looking him over. "What do you want?" Link muttered.

"Linebeck and Damien are weird," he hissed.

"Yeah, no kidding," Link mumbled. "Are you bothering me because you having something else to say about that?"

The AI paused. "I'm not. I'm just commenting. Linebeck's so focused on the drawing that I can't really talk with him. It's nice having you around since I can talk to you, too. It was pretty lonely for a fair bit of time."

Link grinned at Bellum. The AI bobbed up and down, as if nodding. Ghirahim frowned, glancing over at them. "Are you talking with Bellum?"

"Yeah. I keep forgetting that you can sense him."

"I keep forgetting, too. It's a bit jarring. Anyways, we're almost there." Ghirahim pointed outside. Now, they had a better look at the lake, able to see the entire body of water.

In the middle of the lake, connected to land by a long bridge, was what Link assumed to be Zora's Domain. It looked to be a grouping of silver gazebo-like islands, with the islands getting larger the closer to the middle they got. A few of them had dirt floorings, like they had been built atop islands in the lake, and those had trees and flora growing on them. Figures walked on bridges between islands, and people could be seen swimming in the surrounding lake. "It looks like a small city," Link mused.

"It's the home of the Zora," Midna explained. "They are very architecturally adept, and skilled with durable materials. They take pride in the beauty of their surroundings."

At the gate to the bridge, a group of Zora guards had them exit their wagon, telling them that it had to stay on dry land. When Koko asked about what they'd brought, the Zora promised that it would be delivered to them the next day. The Zora led them through the gate and onto the ornate bridge. It was drier than Link expected, especially considering how close to the water it was, the lake water lapping at the edges.

The Zora guards were tall, with long fishlike tails from the backs of their heads and fins on their forearms and calves. Their spears were silver and with blue coloring, created to be both effective and beautiful. Link peered around at the lake around them, seeing some types of fish just under the surface of the water. The Zora guards peered at the fish as well but continued leading the guests down the long bridge. "The bridge is beautiful," Link mused, mostly talking to himself.

The Zora guard with black scales smiled back at him, showing off sharp teeth. "Thank you. I help with its upkeep. I hope you enjoy your time here."

Link smiled. "Thanks. I'm Link."

"Bazz," the Zora responded. "And the rest of your friends?"

The rest of Link's friends took a few moments to realize that they needed to talk, too. "I'm Midna," the Twili began. "How about you?" she asked the second guard, who peered back at them, walking adjacent to Bazz.

"I'm Gaddison," the pink-scaled guard sighed. "Bazz here is the captain of the guard, so his playful demeanor doesn't mean you should treat him like a close friend. We know of Koko, so she need not introduce herself."

"I'm Ghirahim," the demon offered, smiling at Gaddison. Her expression remained impassive. Ghirahim drew in a breath. "If you be willing, we'd like to spar with some of your soldiers."

"On another note, what kind of scientists work here?" Linebeck added. "I was hoping to get some engineering work done in our time here. ...I'm Linebeck."

Bazz sighed, a slight smile on his lips. "Ghirahim, I can spare a few warriors that you may spar with. Just keep in mind that Lizalfos are bold and like to attack us, so they may not always be free. Linebeck, we aren't as involved in technology as the other towns, but we do have a few engineers you may want to talk with. I'm not quite sure if Koko told you or not, but Queen Zelda is waiting for you all at the inn."

* * *

There was little surprise among the group when they met up with Zelda at the inn island, but Midna and Link were happy to see her again. Ghirahim and Linebeck were less enthusiastic. Damien had offered to get them all a room, and was absent when they went to meet with her. "Hello again, you four. I apologize if Koko didn't specify that it was me you were meeting again. I wanted her to keep it ambiguous. I heard of the Yiga attack in Kakariko- I'm impressed that you fought them off, Link," she murmured, turning her head to face him. "Facing one of the black-scarfed Yiga is impressive, but two at once after eight is a feat."

"Well..." Link started, "I ended up badly damaged, and I was really only fighting the spear Yiga while the bow Yiga offered support. I need to get stronger if you want me to help fight them. Do you know more about their plans?"

Zelda nodded, peering at each of them in turn. "Yes, but I would like to quickly apologize to the rest of you for being rather rude. Midna, I was wary of you at first, so I apologize for my admittedly impolite tone of voice when speaking with you. Ghirahim and Linebeck, I was a bit blunt with you two as well, and I'm sorry. I am sure that I can trust you all."

Midna and Link were staring intently with happy smiles, while Ghirahim and Linebeck looked less inclined to show any positive emotion. "...At least you're calling me by my name," Ghirahim muttered. "What are the Yiga's plans?"

Zelda nodded. "Of course. While you were in Kakariko, the Yiga with the katana along with the unequipped Yiga both attempted to assassinate me with a trio of others. Impa and some Sheikah guards fought them off, and we managed to capture one. It turns out that you can keep them from teleporting away by restricting their hands. That way they can't make the symbols that activate the spell. But we had him imprisoned and unmasked. He was a Hylian commoner from the city.

"After a time, he admitted to us the Yiga's plan. They are planning to launch large attacks on each of the towns. I've already sent Sheikah to each town, but we don't know when the attacks will be. He did say it would be within a week. I've left Zora's Domain and Rito Village undefended, as you will be here for a while, then at the Rito village, so we can afford to keep them vulnerable, and the Rito are skilled archers."

"What did you do with the Yiga prisoner?" Linebeck asked. Unseen by everyone but Link, Bellum froze above Linebeck's shoulder, staring at Zelda, scrutinizing her.

Zelda shrugged. "We executed him, of course. He tried to kill me and was a part of a group that is trying to kill hundreds. He was a criminal." She pursed her lips. "I considered letting him live, but we led him through a number of secret passageways that, if he were to return to the Yiga, would be easily used against us."

Link nodded stiffly. "Good point. Can't trust them. Do we need to do anything extra while we're here?"

Zelda shook her head. "No, you may do what you wish, but I'll travel with you until after the Yiga seige."

"How do we know he wasn't bluffing?" Midna asked.

"I know magic," Zelda simply said. "I was able to put a temporary honestly spell on him. It's true, as much as I would like to believe otherwise. If you would allow me to, Link, I'd like to spar with you. I can use many different weapons, so I think I could be helpful. Ghirahim, Midna-"

"We're okay," Ghirahim interrupted. "Bazz has allowed us to spar with some of his soldiers. The two of us will leave now..."

They left with their weapons, and Linebeck and Link met with Damien in the room he got for them all. "It's cool, huh?" Damien said, peering around the room, at the beds and kicking at the rug as his feet. "Lots of blue, but if we get sick of it then we can go out somewhere else. I'm going to get that wood tomorrow, Link, so the rest of the day is for you. Linebeck, wanna look around the domain?"

"It's a date, then."

Link was left alone in the room. It could've been described as just... blue. Link collapsed onto a bed and mentally claimed it as his own. It was soft. He was tempted to doze off right then but reminded himself of Zelda's offer to spar with him. He pushed himself off the bed, collecting his sword and the wooden shield and set out to track down Zelda in the beautiful Zora city.

Each little island was a different building or a small park-like area with Zora milling around. The adults dwarfed Link, while even the children came up to his elbow. Zelda was shadow boxing in the Zora's training grounds, and she cheerfully greeted him. He agreed to simple sword fighting and returned to the inn late at night with aches that he knew would have been bruises had he been organic. Midna and Ghirahim also looked tired, curled up in their own beds.

Linebeck and Damien returned fairly late, and Linebeck tossed a small box at Ghirahim. He handed the other two to Link and Midna while the demon groan and picked it up. "What's this?"

"We went shopping and it turns out Zora jewelry is cheap despite the high quality," Linebeck mused. "You, Link, and I got earrings and we got Midna a hair thing because I'm not sure if she likes jewelry." He opened his own box and relaxed on his bed. "I'm going to pierce my own ears because I'm cheap and I'd like to see if I can do it. You just make a little hole, right? Damien, help me out with this..."

Link found two small, circular azure earrings in his box. Ghirahim help up a singular turquoise earring, looking at it with a surprising look of satisfaction. Midna's gift was a short bronze cylinder with engravings and what seemed to be a pin through it. She looked it over and got to figuring how to put it in her hair.

Since Link's ears were made of synthetic material, it was easy for him to put the earrings in. He peered at himself in the room's mirror for a while, admiring himself. Ghirahim looked his earring over, walking over to the mirror. "The real issue is how I'll put this on," he muttered, peering at the disorganized duo of Linebeck and Damien. "I just know I'll do better than LInebeck's razor," he muttered. "At least he keeps his tools clean. Those two are idiots."

"I like my earrings," Link pleasantly announced. "Yours looks cool. I'll help you, if you'd allow me to."

Ghirahim shot him a look of total disgust before muttering, "Sure. Let's do right ear. No one sees my left."

"Is your left ear pointed, too?" Link asked, peering at the left side of Ghirahim's face, hidden by a curtain of white hair.

"No, it's rounded." Ghirahim moved his hair aside, showing off the rounded ear. A small, black marking of a diamond was under his eye. Ghirahim pointed to it, noticing Link looking at it. "The book of demons referenced this. I don't think it's a tattoo." He let his hair fall back into place. "Now help me out."

It took a few minutes, and Link paused to ponder safety before they got to actually piercing Ghirahim's ear. "This isn't the safest way," Link muttered, using a needle that Linebeck loaned to him, "But it's better than a razor blade."

"It's the lack of a sense of self-preservation," Ghirahim muttered, nudging Link's hand away. He tapped at the earring with a faint smile. "Thanks. It looks nice. Don't tell either of them that I said that."

"Got it." Link glanced over his shoulder at Linebeck. Damien was watching from his own bed. It turned out that their haphazard method worked out pretty well, and Linebeck had his own earring in his right ear. "I like my earrings," he said.

"Good to know. You're welcome. Midna, how's yours?"

Midna didn't seem to hear him at first, then blinked. "Oh, it's nice. Good move, not going for earrings, I hate those. I really like it."

Linebeck crossed his arms behind his head, falling back against his pillow. "Good. That was my one charitable act for the month. You can all wait for next month before I do anything nice." Link rolled his eyes and went back to admiring himself in the mirror. The earrings sparked a faint sense of deja-vu in the back of his mind, but he thought nothing of it.


	18. Ominous Happenings

Link woke the next morning to Linebeck and Damien making breakfast in the cooking pot in the corner of the room. He groggily got up, noting that neither Midna nor Ghirahim were in the room and stumbled over to them. He peered over their shoulders, and muttered, "I thought you were done with being nice for the month, Linebeck."

Linebeck scowled, waving him away. "It was Damien's idea. Once we're done, go and get Ghirahim and Midna. They should be training or something. They've been up for a while. We're making omelets with some fish and onions. The eggs look like they'll be good. The general store near here is nice."

"I'll need to head out for wood around noon," Damien muttered, sounding a bit less cheery than normal. "I asked some guards, and the lizalfos are awful around here. Sounds like it'll be hell, but you can fight them off, right?"

"I'll be ready," Link informed him. "I've got records of lizalfos behavior and tactics within my memory logs. Easier than Yiga." He sat down on the other side of the pot. "We got a nice room," Link murmured, looking around at the little kitchen area, separate from the beds. "It's like an apartment. Didn't know being a carpenter got you so much money."

"I managed to sell pretty much everything in Kakariko," Damien reminded him. "Besides, I occasionally work the odd job on the side. I've got enough to spare." He added a small pinch of salt to the mixture. "Go find them. We're almost done here."

Link nodded and left the room, taking nothing extra with him. The rest of the inn was fairly large, as the island it was situated on was also one of the larger ones. He smiled at the innkeeper and left the building, walking out into the sunny morning. Fish could be seen in the clear waters of the lake, and a group of Zora on an island not far from the inn were spearing some of the bass and carp near the surface.

The largest structure, the palace of the royal family, was beautiful and near the inn. It was held up by silver swooping arches and columns with designs of Zora warriors and artisans etched carefully into the metal. High towers were set at the corners of the palace, and a large statue of some sort of fish was perched atop the roof, looking to portray some kind of guardian. During their sparring the day before, Zelda had advised him to not enter the palace without explicit direction or permission to do so.

Link crossed the bridge to the small, nearby island with a few wooden benches. A pair of Zora children were peering down at a lone frog at the water's edge. He hadn't explored the domain much besides traveling to the training grounds the day before. A lot of the kids stayed on some of the middle buildings, but adult Zora were found all around. Most of the Zora looked happy and calm, but, as Link went from section to section, he couldn't help but notice that the guards looked to be on edge. They peered around with sharp eyes, usually scanning the lake's beaches and the forest beyond the sand.

Link found the training grounds quicker than he had the day before and found Midna and Ghirahim energetically sparring with one another. They both had a frenzied sort of look in their eyes, and their hair was a mess. They were both panting heavily when Link walked over. Midna had a Zora spear in her hands, the spear they'd originally brought forgotten with their bags. Ghirahim had his saber, of course, but his red cloak was tossed aside. "Hi, you two," he pleasantly said, waving at them.

They both halted, staring at him. Link looked at them for a few seconds, noting their messy hair, rumpled clothing, and tired eyes. "You guys were up all night while training, weren't you?"

Ghirahim let out a short laugh. "Yeah. Now I know why Linebeck's such a grumpy pain in the ass all the time. But we've made progress!" He held up his hand for a moment, and a small circle made up of hovering red and black diamonds appeared. "Touch it."

Link placed a finger on the circle, finding it to be sturdy like a wall. "You figured out your magic? What about Midna?"

Ghirahim smiled weakly and let the little spot disappear. "I can only make little barriers right now, and they're like glass. I've been having Midna practice with them." He waved his hand, and a group of identical barriers appeared before him. As if on cue, Midna lunged and shattered each one with well-aimed and swift jabs. "I'm working on doing some knife summoning next, or maybe teleporting. We started with trying to figure out teleporting but ended up deciding that that was dangerous."

Link nodded. That did seem like a wise decision. "Have you figured anything out, Midna?"

She shrugged, rubbing at her eyes with a free hand. "A lot of my magic is teleportation based, so I'm stil working on it. As for the mimicry, I've managed to mimic a few people's voices and change my eye color, but that's as far as I've gotten on that. What time is it?"

"10:13. Damien told me to get you guys. He and Linebeck are making breakfast, I think."

They collected their stuff and returned to the inn just under ten minutes. Midna made a comment on the seemingly nervous guards, and Ghirahim muttered something about the lizalfos. They dumped their stuff on their beds and met the other two at the table, finishing up the food. "Give us a minute," Damien murmured, gesturing for them to sit. "It's almost done."

They put out the fire underneath the cooking pot and Linebeck gave the group plates while Damien split up five omelets. The moment they got their food, Midna and Ghirahim dug in like a pair of starved wolves, and Link subtly scooted away from them. He poked at his omelet and took a bite out of it, finding it to be tasty. Linebeck and Damien took their food and ate standing in the far corner of the room, talking to each other. Based off their periodic glances towards Link and Linebeck's concerned expression, they were most likely discussing Damien's plans to collect wood later that day.

They finished quickly enough, leaving the plates stacked up on the table by the cooking pot. Linebeck and Damien talked for a few minutes longer, and the conversation was ended with the pair of them sharing a quick kiss. Damien approached Link soon after. "We should check with the guards around the domain before heading out today. Do you have anything to do before noon? We could go a bit early."

Link shrugged. "We can go early if you want. I don't have anything planned." The pair of them agreed to set out early, and Link gathered up his sword and shield, telling the others that they were leaving. Damien had a fairly sized bag with him, and quickly told Link had he could find an axe in the domain to use.

Bazz was situated at the entrance of Zora's Domain. Damien borrowed a silver axe from the training guards, letting the weaponsmith there that it was going to be used to woodcutting. The black-scaled Zora stopped the two of them at the gates. "What are you two doing? I know you're both esteemed guests since Zelda personally met with you, but we need to know what you're planning to do."

Damien was the one to answer. "We're going to head out for a little bit so that I can do some woodcutting. Link is coming with me to fight off any lizalfos that attack." Link nodded. "Is something going on? I don't mean to pry, but some of the guards here have looked a bit nervous. I know there's some nasty business going on with the Yiga, so should we be worried about that, too?"

Bazz smiled weakly, but his eyes still showed worry. "We have a... situation going on with the lizalfos. They've been abducting Zora and others who stray too far from the Domain, and none who've been taken have returned. You can go, but I'll have one of my own go with you for extra safety."

Link and Damien nodded slowly and exchanged a concerned glance. Bazz called over a female Zora with dark brown scales and she politely introduced herself as Torfeau. Link and Damien introduced themselves, and out were on their way, halfway across the bridge. They walked a few paces in front of Torfeau. She had a different spear than most of the other Zora guards, one that some of the more skilled-looking guards had.

Once confident that Torfeau was out of earshot, Link leaned in towards Damien. "What were you and Linebeck talking about? It almost seemed like an argument. Is something wrong?"

Damien shook his head. "No, everything's fine. He had just noticed the nervous guards and heard about the lizalfos. I didn't take him seriously when he told me that it was probably a bad idea to head out today. He made a point to remind me of one time we got attacked by some stray bokoblins at the edge of the city a few months ago. I convinced him that'd it'd be fine after telling him that you were coming with me."

"That makes sense," Link mumbled. He hopped off the bridge onto the solid ground. "I get the feeling that Linebeck will kill me if you get hurt while we're out here."

Behind them, Torfeau said, "To the east, around a pool of water, is a dense part of the forest. Not many lizalfos have been seen there." Link and Damien nodded and allowed her to take the lead.

Damien sighed, continuing the first conversation. "He wouldn't. He'd probably yell at you, but he'd mostly stay quiet and wrap up any of my wounds. I've gotten hurt plenty of times. He never gets mad or anything. Just worried." He smiled brightly at Link, reaching over and playfully rubbing his shoulder. "He won't kill you."

"He can take me apart but by bit, though," Link said, adding a dramatic sigh. "I could fight Linebeck off, though. He's skinny, barely eats. Can't be too strong. Sure, he's got a knife, but I don't bleed. I win once I touch him, anyways. Anyways. How much wood are you planning to collect?"

Holding up his bag, Damien shook it and shrugged. "About this much. I don't need much. I'm teaching Linebeck to do some wood carvings, so mostly just enough for him. Rito Village is one of my better clients, so I'll actually get back to furniture once we end up there."

Torfeau fought off a pair of bold boars that had been eyeing the group for the past few minutes. Link had considered helping her out, but she simply told him to save his energy for the lizalfos. "We have a mile left," Torfeau murmured, "But it should be worth it. We don't use wooden furniture since the general humidity of the Domain ruins it, but it's good if we need to burn it or use it for trade." She shot a toothy smile at Damien. "You should get some good use from whatever you get. Killing a few lizalfos should net you two some money, too. Their parts are good for selling or for use in potions. Fair warning while you're getting wood- there's a hinox in that part of the forest. It's a good idea to locate where it is and then avoid it."

"You've never tried to kill it?" Link asked. Hinoxes were formidable monsters, but with spears and long-ranged attacks, they were manageable. "If you get rid of it, wouldn't that make that area just a little bit safer?"

A pair of deer ran across the path ahead of them, causing the three of them to jump. Checking the surrounding forest, Torfeau slowly admitted, "We have actually killed it a few times. It just... keeps coming back. Same with some of the lizalfos- we'll kill a bunch, and the next day it's like nothing happened. We once posted some guards around the hinox's usual resting place after we killed it, and they reported back with the information that it simply reappeared at midnight."

"What?" Damien asked, his voice low. "That's... impossible. I've heard of spells that can bring back a ghost or reanimate the dead for short periods of time, but... what do you guys think is going on? Do you guys suspect Yiga interference?"

Torfeau shook her head. "No. We actually set up a few sentry robots in safe parts of the forest, and none have seen any Yiga action. We have little trouble with the Yiga. Mipha actually seems to view them as possible allies, despite their attacks on the Sheikah and people in the city. She's a kind and beloved princess to us, but a few of the older Zora worry about her attitude towards the Yiga." She rested her spear against her shoulder and peered up at the unique spearhead. "I trust Mipha. This type of spear is given to the skilled guards of our Domain. Mipha awards them, not Bazz, but he recommends those of us who may be worthy of them. There's a sentry robot around here, if you guys are curious."

"Sure!" Link exclaimed. He hadn't seen many robots outside the city. Midna had told him that Kakariko would have some, but he only saw a few on his way out of the lab. Most of them in the lab had been tasked to help with inventions or test things out. "Where is it?"

It was a short detour off the path to find the robot. It was hidden well, in a bush, a small creature that could have been mistaken for a dog. Torfeau picked it up. "It's not that heavy," she mused. It twitched but didn't do anything. "Most of our sentries have no minds of their own, but a few near the path to Zora's Domain can be triggered into action if it detects a threat." She pressed something on the back of the robot's head, and a small disk popped out. "We check these periodically. We have had little to no Yiga problems for the past few years."

"Makes sense," Damien mused. "You guys are pretty well equipped to handle attacks. Did Zelda tell you guys of the possible Yiga threat right now?"

Torfeau nodded. "Yes. We believe we have little to fear, but we will be ready no matter what." She set the robot back in its bush, taking care to cover it back up. "The good trees are a little way down the path. Will you be felling whole trees, or cutting off branches? If we're too loud, the hinox may wake."

"I'll only cut off branches," Damien said. "I can only carry so much." He looked over the silver axe he brought. "Are your axes good?"

"Of course. Should be good for you. Just be sure to return it when done. We don't have too many of those."

Torfeau allowed Link and Damien to go on alone as she scouted the area. They found a good patch of trees, and Damien got to work on cutting off a few low-hanging branches. Link stood neaby, relaxed but with both his shield and sword at the ready. "So, uh. I thought you'd said that you'd never been outside the city when we were on the way to Kakariko?"

Damien leaned out on the branch he was sitting on, studying branches above him. "Oh, right, I did say that. Sorry, I didn't mean to lie. It was a slip of the tongue- I have been around the world. I guess I meant I'd never been outside with Linebeck. He's always wanted to travel the world, that I know, but he clearly never had the opportunity. I think Midna thought about it one time but was too occupied with figuring out her past." He laughed to himself. "They're a weird bunch. You included."

Link shrugged. "Well, I'm the most advanced robot right now and I might be from 200 years ago, so, yeah. The three of them are strange." He smiled to himself. "One turns out to be a lost demon lord, another a Twili, and then we've got Linebeck. He's somehow the most normal despite being well over six feet tall and with two prosthetic limbs and a personal AI."

"Y'know," Damien mused, getting to chopping off a branch. "Midna's actually a few inches taller than him. It's hard to tell because of his hair and because his boots have heels. They both tell me that Ghirahim was pissed to be the shortest until you turned up and took his place. He's still tall, though." The branch landed on the ground with a dull thud.

Link peered around for a moment, looking for any lizalfos and their jagged-edged weapons. From what he knew, they weren't the quietest of monsters, making odd grunts and loudly exploring the underbrush. They made up for their lack of stealth with speed, moving like the overgrown lizards they were, attacking with their long tails or tongues. He knew that a few spat fire or ice, but those in forests were standard, without any elementally inclined powers.

Damien dropped down from the tree and got to hacking off parts of the branch. Link watched him, then sat in the grass. He set his shield down and peered at the sectioned design on it. "How'd you come up with this design?" Link asked, pointing at each symbol in turn. "Two hearts, a key, and... this creature. It's a cool emblem, if that's what you'd call it." He glanced around again, paranoid.

Damien frowned at the emblem. He stuffed a few thick strips of wood in his bag. "Dunno. Just thought of it. I like to come up with a lot of different symbols and crests. I finish work quickly and don't get that many commissions, so I have time to mess around, carving small statues and pictures. That was a design that I've doodled a few times. A few of my other friends like it, too."

"Oh. I thought it might have some kind of cultural significance."

"Nah, just a doodle. This..." Damien rolled over the branch. He'd cut off a few smaller branches and cut away notches in the wood. He got to his feet, brushing himself off. "I think I'm good, actually. Didn't need much. Let's go and find Torfeau." Link nodded, and they set off into the forest once again.

"She should be easy to find," Link mused. "Her scales are dark, her armor is bright, she's tall and got that spear..." He frowned to himself. "Did you see where she went?"

"Further into the forest that way," Damien answered, pointing to their left. "I spotted a few lizalfos that way. I bet she decided to go and fight them off. That spear of hers looks lethal."

"It does," Link murmured, following Damien into the underbrush. "She must be skilled to properly use it. I know the Zora are renowned for their skill with a spear. Midna will find good mentors here." He stepped over a fallen spear. "Looks like she came through here," he said, indicating to the spear. "No body..."

"Monster corpses turn into smoke, I thought you knew that," Damien said.

They found more lizalfos weapons and eventually spotted Torfeau in a clearing, easily dispatching a pair of lizalfos will well-aimed thrusts at their chests. She glanced idly over to them. "Hey. You done? I'm ready to go if you are." She flipped her grip on her spear, allowing the spearhead to waver a few inches from the ground.

"We're done." Link offered her a faint smile and got nothing in return. She walked over to join them and started on her way to lead them back to Zora's Domain. Damien only shrugged at Link and followed her. The robot huffed to himself, watching them go. One of the nearby bushes rustled, and he jogged after them.

They returned safely, greeting the two guards at the main gate. They walked silently down the bridge. About halfway across, Torfeau stopped them with her arm out. "Do you see what's going on?"

Link frowned. He shifted his gaze to Zora's Domain. A crowd of people were bustling around on one of the middle islands. "What... building is that?" At his side, Damien was squinting at the same island, unable to see as well as the robot could. "What's going on?"

"That's our hospital," Torfeau hissed. "What the hell...?" She shot a glance back at Link and Damien. "Excuse me." As she finished her words, she sprinted off, dashing down the bridge. Link and Damien were at her heels, quickly understanding that something was wrong.

Torfeau ignored the bridges and dove into the water. Link and Damien sprinted from island to island. Zora going about their days looked nervous, giving the two of them little attention. They reached the island in time to see what was going on. The small island that was apparently dubbed the hospital had a small building similar to the inn. A crowd of Zora were huddled around the entrance, murmuring to themselves. Link spotted Torfeau inside the building, along with Ghirahim, Midna, and Linebeck standing near a red-scaled Zora that he didn't recognize.

They made their way through the crowd, apologizing profusely to the Zora that they accidentally shoved aside. The first room of the hospital seemed to be like a check-in room, a rather flustered Zora talking with the red-scaled Zora. Link and Damien awkwardly stumbled over to Ghirahim and the others. "What's going on?" Link quietly asked, peering around. He spotted Zelda on the opposite side of the room.

Linebeck mostly ignored him, all his attention on Damien. Midna shrugged. "We don't know. We heard some shouting and Zelda told us to follow her here. If Mipha's here, though, someone's probably hurt."

Ghirahim crossed his arms. "Soon after you two left, a group of Zora went out, apparently to check on the matter with the lizalfos. I think they got injured or something."

As he stopped talking, Zelda strode over to them. "Good," she began. "Link has returned. I apologize for not telling you what happened. Mipha wanted to tell you all once Link came back. She wishes to talk to you at some point." With an extended hand, Zelda gestured towards the red-scaled Zora with silver jewelry. "She shall be with you once done with them."

Mipha was done soon enough, and she turned around, spotting Link. Her eyes widened for a moment, then she walked over to them. "Hello," she said, speaking softly. "Are you Link? I was informed by those at Kakariko Village that you would be coming. Zelda says that you may be the hero of this era, despite your being a robot." She smiled thinly. "We should talk elsewhere. I am no longer needed here."

The Zora princess led them out of the hospital, gently letting the waiting Zora know that everything was going to be fine. The group found quiet behind the hospital. Mipha let out a long breath. "The group that we sent out got attacked by a gang of lizalfos," she said. "It's been getting worse. I... hope you can do something to help, but I suppose I shouldn't be bitter if you can't. I've healed all of the Zora that were hurt, in case you're worried..."

Link nodded. The others were silent. Damien and Midna looked the most interested, while Ghirahim's gaze didn't linger on a single thing. Linebeck looked preoccupied. Bellum was nowhere to be seen. "We can try, though. I'd like to try and help. Do you think we can?"

Mipha shrugged. "Well. Lizalfos have been capturing people, and we can't pinpoint the location of where they're being taken. I've considered joining a group of guards and intentionally getting caught, but we're all worried about getting killed the moment it happens." She paused and crossed her arms. "However you could do that, Link."

Link frowned. Everyone else seemed to suddenly stiffed. "What do you mean?"

"You're a robot! I doubt the lizalfos would know, and you wouldn't die since you're organic." Mipha glanced nervously at Linebeck. "Right? I'm not good with technology, honestly, but am I at least partially right?"

Linebeck shrugged. "Maybe. He's... very human-like. I'm too worried that he might sustain too much damage. I could try and create a tracker to locate their hideout once he's taken, but it would take a few days." He rubbed the back of his neck, a shrewd glint entering his eyes. "I'm working on another project at the same time, but I'd be willing to speed things up if you can provide with some motivation of sorts. Payment. I'll have the tracker done and ready in three days if you'll pay me enough."

A quick glance at Midna and Ghirahim's faces told Link that they all shared the same thought- the only thing keeping them from socking Linebeck in the face was their shared care towards him, and his aphenphosmphobia. Even Damien looked miffed. Mipha, however, scowled. "Bastard. However, we're desperate." Her scowl turned into a pleasant smile, but the venom in her eyes was obvious to all. "We'll pay you after you create the working tracker. You have three days. After that, you'll get no payment." Mipha sighed heavily, looking to the side. Most of the Zora seemed to be returning to their calm daily routine. "As the princess of the Zora, I'm willing to do nearly anything to keep them safe."

Link nodded slightly. "I promise to try and help your people. I... I want to fulfill my role as a hero, or at least save some lives. Sorry about Linebeck. He's an asshole by default. Tracker or no tracker, I'll try and find out where your people have been taken."

Mipha nodded. "Thank you. I must add- we have tried following the kidnappers before but got lost along the way. It's too dangerous to trail them but watching from afar gets us lost. With the tracker, you could follow more successfully, or watch for when he stops and go there. I'd go with you if I wasn't needed here."

"I'll get started, then." Glares followed Linebeck as he walked away, but none of them stopped him.

The Zora princess sighed once again, averting her eyes. "Well, then. Ghirahim, Midna, you're learning magic, correct? If you'd like, I'd like to see if I can help you. I'm the best healer here." Mipha peered momentarily at Link and Damien. "You two may leave. Link, I thank you in advance for your help." Link nodded stiffly and turned to leave.

Damien hesitated. "Mipha?" he asked.

The princess peered over at him with a smile of familiarity. "Yes?"

"Do you plan for me to help?"

She paused. "You don't need to include yourself, and you're not a part of the team that Zelda approved. It would be safest for you to stay here."

Damien nodded, and left with Link.

"Do you know Mipha?" Link asked once they returned to the inn. "She seemed like she already knew you."

Damien tossed his bag on the table. "We've met a few times. She's not like Zelda, she talks with her people and is generally pretty social even if she is timid." He strode over to Linebeck, who had a pile of miscellaneous parts and tools on his bed. "Well, I won't be joining you guys on your great lialfos heist, but I'd like to help before then." He went quiet as he watched Linebeck work.

Watching them, Link became more aware of his synthetic heartbeat. He zoned out slightly, thinking about his more human aspects. The lizalfos had been taking Zora, would they take something looking like a Hylian? He sighed. He had hoped to learn more about himself on this journey, and he only learned that he had a temper. A small frown tugged at the corner of his mouth. If anything, he'd learn the most about himself if Linebeck would inspect him more.

The engineer was silently scrawling notes in a notebook while Damien was murmuring to him. He picked up a few parts, setting some in one pile and others back in the large pile. Bellum had reappeared, floating around the parts. Link's best guess was that they were starting work on the tracker. However that would end up working. The strange screws and gears that Linebeck had been collecting were being taken while he looked through the pile but left in a third pile off to the side.

Asking for rewards and seemingly not caring aside, Link knew that he could be confident that Linebeck would come through with the tracker. From what Mipha had said, it seemed that the tracker would be used to follow Link to the lizalfos hideout and break out all of the captured Zora, dismantling the lizalfos threat. But then there was the problem of the monsters somehow reappearing at midnight, and the true nature of the lizalfos's plans. He sighed rather loudly to himself, getting the others' attention.

"What are you thinking about?" Linebeck asked from across the room. "That was too loud of a sigh for it to be nothing."

Link unconsciously reached up and touched at his earrings. "I'm just worried. That's all."

Linebeck laughed harshly. "The world ended 200 years ago, and no one knows why; we're all worried."


	19. On the Trail of the Lizalfos

Link sat uncomfortably stiffly, doing his best not to move as Linebeck fiddled with the chamber in the back of his neck. The engineer had been muttering to himself since opening it, mostly about inane details of the tracker. It was the morning of the third day, and Linebeck had spent every hour since starting his project building, editing, and testing the tracker. It turned out to be a small, triangular object with tiny lights.

In addition to the tracker, Linebeck created an item used to map out the surrounding area and pinpoint the tracker. It worked as both a map and a companion to the tracker. Damien was the one who helped Linebeck figure out how to get the mapping function to work, acting as an assistant and as the one keeping Linebeck sane. As Link watched him work for the last few hours, his periodic twitching and flinching implied that he had started hallucinating due to lack of sleep.

Midna and Ghirahim were practically inseparable for that period of time, working tirelessly on their magic and occasionally sparring with Link and other Zora soldiers. Mipha sometimes joined them, her timid and shy personality belying her skill and power when fighting. She fought with her Lightscale Trident, a weapon as deadly as it was beautiful, and even the three of them together had a hard time contending with the Zora princess. "You're all very skilled," she told them after one match of sparring. "And you all have certain strengths and weaknesses. With more experience and training, I bet you'll all be able to defeat me on your own. I've had special training all my life, so I had an advantage from the start." The rest of that day, Mipha gave them a number of tips and extra training.

No more Zora were taken by the lizalfos after Mipha spoke with Link, due to her halting any patrols until the problem was solved. What she would do if they were to fail, none of them would know. There were rumors that Mipha's father initially objected to her caution, but eventually supported the move. Zora healers that had looked tired from helping injured guards looked relieved.

Linebeck set the tracker into some part of the compartment in Link's neck and held it there with a finger. "Don't move," he muttered. Link didn't dare breathe as Linebeck picked up some new tools and parts and began to delicately screw the tracker in place. "It's small enough to fit into your neck panel," Linebeck mused. "But it's not fragile. I used some of that strange material we've been picking up, and that stuff is durable as hell. We can now track where you are with this slate we created," he said, referencing the thin tablet, "and use it to map out the surrounding land."

Once Linebeck was done, there was an uncomfortable pressure in his neck, like as if someone had pressed a syringe into the nape of his neck. The pressure eased quickly, however. Link felt at his neck once Linebeck closed the compartment. The only hint that there was a control panel there was a pair of slight bumps under his skin, the hinges. The last time it was opened, Linebeck was checking his code for the first time.

"How does that tablet work?" Link asked, slipping off the bedside and stretching.

Linebeck held it up, looking it over. It was thin, about the size of a small book. Its screen was made of black glass, and there were a few buttons and small compartments along the sides. "It connects to and locates the tracker using some kind of electromagnetic wave. Don't ask me what kind, these past two days have been a frantic and weed-fueled blur. If I pass out in a few hours, don't be surprised. Anyways, we can use this thing as a map. It can cover about two miles tops, so we'll have to keep moving to keep track of you, but it's a good distance."

"We've tested it, it works!" Damien added. "It's good to go whenever, so you guys should be able to go ahead and locate the lizalfos hideout today."

Linebeck nodded, turning the tablet over in his hands. "Yeah," he murmured. He wasn't looking at anyone, talking to himself. "We can get going sometime today. I just need to put the finishing touches on my other project, and I'll be ready. I think... where are the others?"

* * *

Link found the other two in the training ground, as usual. Mipha was with them, and he let them all know that the tracker was finished and that they could get started. The Zora princess sighed. "I must admit that I'm impressed that he made that tracker in under three days." She shook her head. "Does it work?"

Link nodded. "Yeah. He tested it and managed to make a tablet-like thing that also maps out the area and locates the tracker. A tracker by itself doesn't seem too useful."

"...Wonderful. I assume you will leave soon, then?"

"I think. Linebeck did say that he had another project to add some finishing touches to. We should be ready in an hour."

The four of them gathered at the gates of Zora's Domain under an hour later. Ghirahim took nothing but his saber and a healing potion he'd picked up from the local store. Midna swapped out the Zora spear she'd been using in training with her usual spear, claiming that it was more powerful on a base level. She also brought along a small pouch of other potions, having spent her free time making them after picking up her spear. The guardian sword and wooden shield were all that Link needed to bring, so he waited at the gate longest.

Linebeck took the longest and brought with him a bag. He refused to tell any of them what was in the bag, only that it was the project he'd been working on. Link even tried to get information from Bellum, only for the AI to repeat what Linebeck had been saying.

Link shot an angry glare at Bellum after being given no information. "I don't understand how you're such a little shit but also so loyal."

"I'm programmed that way, simple."

Mipha was the one to send them off, Zelda watching from the back of the crowd. She and a number of other Zora wished them luck, and they were off, walking down the main bridge. Linebeck was fiddling with the tablet. "Link?"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to fight back while taken. They might damage you. If they do begin to try and kill you, don't fight back unless you're in danger of shutting down. I brought some tools and supplies if we need to repair you. That's not all that's in the bag, but that's most of it." Linebeck reached back and dug through the bag and tossed a smaller pouch at Midna. "Those are some deku nuts, they'll cause a flash of light when thrown onto the ground. We can use them if we need to fight against a group of lizalfos; you need to make sure and close your eyes when using them and tell us when you'll use them."

Midna stared at the pouch. "When'd you get these?"

"Picked them up in Kakariko for cheap."

"What... were you going to use them for?"

"None of your business," Linebeck snapped. "We have more important things to attend to, anyways. We'll find a group of lizalfos and send Link in. I have the tablet working now," he turned it around to let the others see the yellow dot in the map. "All we need to do is make sure that Link has been taken and trail them at a decent distance. We should try and stay close. If we lose sight of him, we can follow the map. The tracker should be nearly indestructible and it's well hidden." He flipped the tablet back around. "Do you guys have anything else to say?"

Ghirahim shrugged. "I mean, not much. We don't know what to expect. At least we're ready for a fight." He held out his saber, looking it over. "I've never fought a lizalfos before."

"Neither have I..." Midna mused. "Link, do you have any information on them?"

Link nodded. "Yeah. They're like large lizards. The ones around here should have no impressive talents other than roughly blending into their surroundings. They usually jump around when attacking and run around pretty quickly and will often... shoot their tongue out at you. I don't know any other way to put it. You'd initially think it wouldn't hurt too much, but there's some kind of acid coating their tongues that does more damage that you'd think."

"Gross," Linebeck muttered. "So, uh, your guys' new job is to protect me, too." He shot a smug smile back at Ghirahim and Midna. "Anyways, let's actually get started. The lizalfos should be deeper in the forest, right?"

"Yes," Link mused. "Do you want me to go ahead? You can follow from a distance, like you said."

They allowed him to go off on his own, and Link jogged into a cluster of trees. He was alone, running past trees. The lizalfos would be found in open spots. They weren't too quiet, so he would be able to hear them well enough. He took note of everything nearby, taking note of things that most humans wouldn't see. He spotted small lizards and birds in the trees, hopping over an anthill. His shield, stowed on his back, was a bit noisy but didn't scare away any animals. He focused on what he heard- his heightened hearing something he didn't notice very often. Linebeck had told him that his senses were considerably more sensitive than most humans'- Link supposed he had never noticed until now. He hadn't had to sprint through a forest to find noisy lizards before-

And he heard it. The squawks and grunts of lizalfos. Link froze where he was and spotted them- five lizalfos dancing around a campfire. Barely a few meters away. Link froze. Just walk in and surrender. Easy enough.

It was quick- Link walked into the middle of their camp and they immediately jumped him, hitting his head hard enough to knock out a human and tying him up. They dragged him on the ground as they walked into the forest and leaving their camp behind. Fear flooded his mind at first as he pretended to be unconscious but was reminded of the tracker. Scanning the edges of the trees nearby, he caught small glimpses of his friends trailing him.

He was dragged down a pathway, one lizalfos dragging him while the other four followed with their jagged spears. After nearly ten minutes, they walked by a river, and took a sharp right turn- walking towards a tall wall of stone up against the nearby mountainside. This section of the river was very well hidden- Link couldn't spot his friends until the lizalfos stopped at the stone. They huddled on a cliff above the river, watching.

Based off of Mipha's testimony on the kidnappings, they always lost track of the lizalfos around the river. Most Zora said that the lizalfos always just... disappeared.

Link stayed limp to keep the lizalfos from realizing he was awake. He peered up at them, however. The lead lizalfos was hidden by the one dragging Link, so he couldn't see what it was that the monster was tapping. Hopefully, Linebeck could send Bellum closer to get a look. The lizalfos stopped what it was doing, and, inexplicably, they dragged him through the stone wall like there was nothing there.

He was dragged into a long, dark chamber. They dragged him across the smooth floor, going quiet. Their tails curling and uncurling, they paused for a moment, peering down at Link, then continued. Link stared at the entrance of the hall for what felt like hours as he was dragged across the ground, and hope blossomed in his chest as he spied three figures slowly tailing the lizalfos.

If Link didn't have an internal clock, he would have thought he was in the darkness for hours, dragged unceremoniously down a long hall while his trio of companions followed at a distance. But they'd gotten farther than the Zora. The only difference was the tracker- it helped them follow the lizalfos's zig-zagging path.

The lead lizalfos opened a door, and brutally bright light streamed into the hall, burning Link's eyes until he closed them. They started to walk through the doorway, and Link's friends sprinted at them. The lizalfos turned and had the time to let out gargled squawks before Ghirahim and Midna wasted nary a second in killing them. The lead had an extra moment to try and escape, but Midna threw her spear, the weapon sailing through the air, the blade burying itself deep into its skull. All of the monsters turned to purple smoke.

Link barely had time to figure out what was happening as Linebeck cut off his ropes with his razor. "W-we got in!"

"Tracker worked like a charm, of course." Linebeck said, smiling. Ghirahim and Midna were standing in the doorway, and Linebeck glanced up at them. "What are we dealing with?"

"It's a prison," Midna said. Link and Linebeck walked over to them, standing in the doorway with them.

They were in a larger hall, created with stone and silver and lit by luminescent stones and torches. There were cells along the walls, each cell was small and had thick bars keeping the prisoners in. Link jogged up to the nearest cell, and called the others in. A pair of young Zora were huddle in a corner inside.

Linebeck flicked his left wrist, causing a pair of lockpicks to slip into his palm, and started to pick the lock. The door swung open once he was done, and he stepped aside, letting Link inside. The Zora children shied away from him, but Link crouched down and held his hands up, showing that they were empty. "It's okay. We're here to help you; we're here to help all of you."

They stared at him, and one of them quietly whispered, "You want to save us?"

"Yes," Link gently responded. "You can leave, but you should wait until everyone else is out before returning home, okay? We'll free all of your friends." He got to his feet and backed out of the cell.

Ghirahim and Midna searched for a way further into the building while Link and Linebeck freed the rest of the Zora. Most of them were adult guards, but a good number were children or older Zora. They all thanked Link, asking how they found them and if it was safe to leave. Linebeck avoided most of the Zora, gruffly letting them know that he didn't like being touched. Once all the Zora were freed, they were left lingering in the middle of the room. Link had spread the idea that they could leave if they wished, but none left.

Link frowned at the crowd and tilted his head to the side. "Why are you all staying?"

One of the older Zora shrugged. "It's dangerous out," he rasped. "We have agreed to wait until you leave with us- we're weak and starved."

One quick talk with his friends later, Link reassured the Zora that they would be back for them once done in the prison. The younger Zora were worried, but the former guards promised to protect them if needed. Ghirahim still lent them his healing potion in case they needed it.

Waiting until they were sure that the Zora were okay, Link followed the group further into the prison. They found another hallway, leading further into the prison. Link activated his sword but left his shield on his back. "How long do you think this place has been here for?" Link asked, glancing around.

Bellum peered around and mused, "Looks to be a few hundred years old. Maybe over a thousand years." Linebeck repeated his words to the others.

"It's younger than me," Ghirahim muttered. He sighed and said, "I hate that I'm technically a few thousand years old."

"You aged wonderfully," Midna said, sounding like she was consoling a child. Linebeck nodded in agreement, looking Ghirahim up and down.

At the end of the hallway they found a large room, very open and with at least four other hallways. On the other side of the room was a large door with a large keyhole. "I'm just guessing," Linebeck started. "But I think that door's really important."

They walked into the room and were instantly ambushed by a team of lizalfos. Linebeck shrieked and fell into a crouch, shielding his head with his arms. Ghirahim and Midna and Link dispatched the monsters quickly and efficiently. Watching the monsters turn into smoke, Link glanced back at Linebeck, still cowering close to the group. Ghirahim stalked over and gave him a swift kick to the side. "Get up, you've got us to protect you."

Linebeck peered around with wide eyes and got to his feet. He hurriedly tugged his goggled down around his eyes. "How, uh, are we going to do this?" he asked, gesturing at the doorways. He started to dig around in his bag while he waited for an answer.

Midna frowned at the four doorways. "It would be the best to split up and go into two of the halls. Mainly because we can't do one to each hall because Linebeck will be killed."

Linebeck's face went red. "Wha- You don't know that! I have a knife!" He withdrew an odd machine from his bag. "I have this!"

Everyone stared at it for a moment. Linebeck scowled and held it out, holding it by some kind of handle. A trigger was sticking out from one of the two stone-like parts and he flicked it. A pair of limbs flipped out and a blue wire appeared between the two ends. "A bow?" Link asked, astounded. Wires were from the handle to the limbs, some kind of thin cylinder taped to the bottom limb, most likely to be used for aiming.

"Ya think?" Linebeck asked, glaring at Link. The bow was about four feet tall. Linebeck kicked at the bag. "I've got about thirty arrows in here. I can defend myself!"

"Prove it," Midna sighed. "How long have you practiced with that?"

Linebeck's face went red again. "I-I finished making it yesterday." He looked it over. In the black stones and along the tan limbs were engravings with orange lights within. He glanced at everyone. "It's made with some of those ancient parts, using one of those stolen blueprints." He looked it over, tugging on the bowstring. "...I started making it once we got to Zora's Domain."

Ghirahim blink for a few moments. "What. How. What the hell? How in the hell did you manage to make this in under a week,_ and _make a working tracker and map?"

Linebeck shrugged. "It felt like I'd done it before." He looked the bow over once more, and his gaze snapped to Midna. "So, can I go alone-"

"No." Midna pointed at Ghirahim. "He'll go with you. I'll go with Link." She took the robot by the arm and marched him down the right doorway closest to the large door.

"Why am I stuck with _babysitting_?!" Ghirahim indignantly whined.

"Babysitting?! You bastard! You're lucky if I don't shoot you in the back."

* * *

Midna sighed to herself halfway down the hall. "Ghirahim had better keep him safe," she muttered.

Link nodded. "Yeah. Jokes aside I'd hate to see Linebeck get hurt. I doubt we'd be able properly do this whole quest without him." He frowned around at the dark hallway. "This place doesn't seem to be too complicated. Just a few rooms and hallways." He held out his sword, casting a pale blue glow in front of them.

They walked the rest of the hallway in silence, exiting out into a large, square room. It was well lit, and their pathway seemed to lead down into a maze of sorts. Midna walked over to the railing and peered down. "There's some kind of pressure plate down there."

Link walked up to the railing, frowning down at it. He peered at the path down to that pressure plate. It was well concealed, but he picked up traces of traps. Looking around the room more, they spotted a second path spiraling up to some platform. Midna frowned. "So... I guess someone did need to go down that other hall. I'll head that way. Wait for me, and we'll do this at the same time. I assume that's what we need to do."

Link nodded. "Right. I'll wait for you. Try not to get hurt."

* * *

Ghirahim wished he had brought earplugs. Linebeck was whiny when he had to talk to people, or when he was nervous about something, and he decided to have a running commentary on how much he hated this experience. He had his bow at the ready with an arrow nocked, but Ghirahim doubted that he'd manage to properly aim with how jittery he was. "...of course, it's dark enough for anything to jump out at us, like a keese or a ghost..."

With a heavy sigh, Ghirahim snapped, "This place is infested by lizalfos, we'd notice them if they were hiding."

"But it's dark and there could be anything lying in wait. Spiders, monsters, ghosts... even a twisted version of some kind of concept..."

"What in the hell are you talking about, 'some kind of concept'?!"

"Listen, asshole, I recently read a horror story where the main monster was the goddamn concept of _spirals_. Spirals! That shit was terrifying. Let me be scared about this!"

Ghirahim scoffed. "That's a goddamn fictional story! This is real life, you coward."

Linebeck shot back with, "You don't know whether we live in a fictional world or not!"

"Are you high? Did you smoke some weed before we got here? Goddesses, why did I have to get stuck with you right now..." Ghirahim grabbed the collar of Linebeck's coat and forced him to walk faster down the hall. "You're making it so I'll be less inclined to save your ass."

"Why are you so mad at me all of a sudden?" Linebeck asked, not even trying to mask the quiver in his voice. "We were fine on the way here."

"But you're pissing me off_ now_." Ghirahim sighed and stopped, letting go of Linebeck's collar. "I'm making it worse. Let's just keep going. Just... don't whine like this. It gets annoying." He shifted his weight and muttered, "Look, if you want me to protect me, make me want to. Goddesses, it's like I'm talking to a child."

Linebeck's face went red once again, but he remained silent, if not a little downtrodden. They walked down the hall and found themselves in a large, long room. Pressure plates and suspicious tiles dotted the long bridge in front of them. Ghirahim stepped out a few feet and peered around. "There's a second bridge," he muttered. "Maybe a second person was supposed to head down the other hall."

"D-don't leave-"

"I'll only be gone for a few minutes, and then across the room. You're an adult, so act like it for once."

* * *

Midna waved at Link from her path. "It's not much different from yours," she shouted. "It seems simple enough."

Link nodded, and they got started. Link tread carefully, hopping over pressure plates and warning Midna of traps. The room was silent and every time they spoke it echoed all around the cavernous space. There were cliff-like platforms along the walls and near the paths. It difficult to see what lay on them unless he got near them. Midna's were simply too high to see, while Link's had walls. Link paused, and shouted, "Hey, Midna?"

"Yeah?"

"Watch out for those platforms. They might be for lizalfos to hide on."

Midna nodded, changing her grip on her spear. Link sighed to himself. She could handle herself. If she needed help, she'd probably tell him. He slipped his shield from his back and prepared to fight if needed, tiptoeing past pressure plates and around holes that implied spikes. His synthetic heart pounded in his chest. Nothing had happened yet, but the threats were practically breathing down his neck, yet not quite doing anything. Like the chain of traps was waiting for him to relax enough to catch him off-guard.

As time dragged on, and he neared the first column, he noted that Midna was nearby hers as well. Link sped up to get it over with and was barely surprised when a lizalfos jumped at him. Before it could hit the ground, Link managed to stab it in the throat before it hit the ground. Unfortunately, its corpse slammed into a pressure plate a fraction of a moment before it turned into smoke. From the distant lizalfos shriek, Link could assume that Midna got rid of her monster, but he didn't hear the sounds of gears clicking from where she was. There was a distant clunk, and part of the floor fell out from where Link was standing.

He jumped out of the way just in time but landed on one of the hole tiles- managing to just barely escape. Link jumped out of the way again and felt as though he'd began a chain reaction. Every step landed him in danger, triggering traps that shot arrows, fire, revealed lava, and he simply decided to run away from any lizalfos, letting them fall victim to the traps that they very obviously didn't set up themselves.

Now that he thought about it, in the middle of frantically outrunning the death that was at his heels, the deal with the lizalfos made little sense. Why kidnap the Zora rather than killing them? What were they doing in this dungeon? How were the monsters returning? He tripped over his own feet and tumbled onto the pressure plate on the bottom platform. Link let out a long, wheezing laugh, and finally rasped, "I'm done!"

Midna's high-pitched laugh echoed throughout the room. Based off of her nonchalant attitude, she was doing much better than Link. Link lay on his pressure plate, panting and listening to Midna's progress. She reached her pressure plate and let him know, but he figured once stairs and a platform folded out from where their paths had crossed. "Platform," Link weakly called out, shakily getting to his feet.

They made their way to the slowly unfolding platform and stairs. They waited for a moment, waiting until the platform was fully formed and a wooden chest appeared in a short burst of light. "You can take whatever that is," Midna offered. "You look like you fell down a couple flights of stairs."

Link scoffed and trudged up the stairs. "At least watch." He paused in front of the chest. It was unremarkable and looked fragile. He reached down and opened it, undoing the latch. Inside was what looked to be half of a large silver key. "Of course," he murmured. "I'll bet Ghirahim and Linebeck have another two-path thing they need to do."

Midna playfully rubbed his shoulder, making him sway. "Probably. They'll be fine, though. Anyways, let's get back. We need to see if you're hurt."

* * *

Ghirahim peered down his bridge. "Looks like there's some traps and a barrier of sorts." He glanced over at Linebeck, still as a statue over on his bridge. "We might need to work together on this." He drew his sword and shifted from foot to foot. He knew he'd be fine, but he found himself wishing he was the one with the bow. He could handle himself just fine, but Linebeck was alone if he got attacked.

"Do you at least know how to use a bow?" He asked, shouting across the chasm between them. "I don't trust your aim, but you know what to do, right?"

"I-I know how to use a bow, yeah. I have my knife, too!"

"Just be careful. If you need any help, I'll see what I can do."

"I won't need any help! I can defend myself!"

Ghirahim sighed, running a hand through his hair. Linebeck was loud when he was in trouble, he'd let Ghirahim know even if he didn't want to. The bridges looked long, with at least three different barriers. How they would be removed, he didn't know. Maybe he could run back and see if Link and Midna would be willing to help. No, there was no time.

He started along his bridge. There were pressure plates and spots for spikes, but as he walked, arrows shot out of the wall at him. Reacting just in time, Ghirahim threw up a number of barriers to stop them and duck out of the way. The arrows shattered the barriers, but a handful of those barriers stood and stopped the arrows entirely. So, he was capable of creating stronger barriers. A scream from Linebeck's side rang out, and it turned out that the engineer's solution to the arrows was to drop down on the ground. The arrows sailed across the chasm and dipped just under the other bridge.

A few moments later, the ground below them started to fall. They scrambled to their feet and sprinted ahead further, outrunning or otherwise dodging and blocking arrows. Every time, a few moments later, the ground beneath wherever the arrows were shot from would fall out. They soon discovered that the floor would not fall out until the part before it was gone, so running faster gave them more time. No monsters of any sort were in their way, but they reached the barriers with only about a minute of ground left.

Ghirahim stared at the barrier, a metal wall in his path. He frantically stared around and found, on the wall, what looked to be a lever of sorts. The problem in his way was that it was perhaps fifty feet above his head. Linebeck had the same lever- and he was aiming an arrow up at it. "Linebeck!" Ghirahim cried out, accidentally causing him to miss his shot. Thankfully, the arrow hit the wall near the lever and fell by Linebeck's feet.

"C-can you get my lever, too?!"

For a moment, after no response and watching Linebeck shoot his lever and bring down his barrier, Ghirahim was worried that Linebeck wasn't going to help him. Fear flooded Ghirahim's mind, until an arrow whizzed far above his head and flipped the lever. He made a mental note to praise Linebeck for his surprisingly good aim and sprinted further down the bridge. It was the same, arrows and falling platforms, aside from the addition of flames.

"Wonderful," Ghirahim hissed under his breath, forced to generate more and more barriers as he ran. Fortunately, he realized they were getting stronger, but he had more to worry about.

The next barrier had another high lever, and Linebeck shot them both after a few tries, but neither barrier let up. More panic flooded Ghirahim's chest. He'd never been tailed by falling platforms. Monsters, muggers, other swordsmen- he had the skills to win and walk away. This was something that he could only run from. This was Linebeck's specialty. Ghirahim wasn't cornered as much, and he often reacted with rage- Linebeck usually managed to go from panic to eerily calm problem-solving. It was like something snapped in his mind and his rarely utilized self-preservation skills came to surface.

Ghirahim ran his hands along the wall, desperately trying to find something to press or pull. Across the room, Linebeck began to mimic him. They felt along, far too aware of the time constraint, but Linebeck seemed to find something on his barrier and press it. Ghirahim copied what he did and found a subtle indention, pressing it in. Their barriers fell and they sprinted down to the last barrier.

It was easy enough to continue dodging the things thrown at them. Ghirahim managed to block with magic, and Linebeck proved fast and flexible enough to dodge out of the way. The last barrier had the same lever and slight indention, but of course, there was a third mechanism. Ghirahim kicked away Linebeck's missed arrows while he peered around. Nothing seemed immediately obvious, until a lizalfos jumped out at each of them. Ghirahim cursed under his breath and brought up his sword to block the monster's attack.

Ghirahim slid easily from his blocking to cutting the lizalfos from shoulder to hip, watching it turn into smoke like all the others. Wonderful, the third 'key' was something that he couldn't help Linebeck with. He was forced to watch as the engineer fumbled with his bow, stumbling away from the lizalfos he was faced with. He had little experience with the bow, and he seemed to realize it quickly, stowing the bow in his bag and whipping out his knife. It was a simple hunting knife, one that he'd picked up in a shop for cheap, but it had proved to be reliable against muggers. Against a lizalfos? Ghirahim was less sure.

For a moment, he felt confident- watching Linebeck ward off attacks despite being unable to fight back at least assured that he would eventually find an opening. A faint crumbling brought his attention back to the falling bridge and panic shoved any sort of calm in Ghirahim's mind out the window. "HURRY!" he hoarsely screamed across the chasm.

His shout forced Linebeck to flinch and shoot a quick glance at Ghirahim for a fragment of a moment, but it was enough time for the lizalfos to rip open a gash in his shoulder. He saw the blood fly from across the room, and a new, white-hot rage rushed through Ghirahim's veins. Blurry images and sequences rushed through his mind, and his arm seemed to move on his own- waving out horizontally, snapping his fingers. He barely registered the three quick flashes of light, but sure as hell saw the three daggers that shot across the gap.

Two of them hit their target, burying themselves hilt-deep into the lizalfos's skull, killing it instantly. The third missed but disappeared along with the other two once the monster was dead. Both barriers disappeared, and Ghirahim sprinted past it. The bridges were connected by a platform at the end of the hall, so he dashed across it.

Linebeck lay on his bridge, blood pouring from the gash in his right shoulder. His coat was ripped and getting stained, but he seemed to care little about it, slowly dragging himself closer to the end of the bridge using his prosthetic arm. As he got closer, Ghirahim could dimly sense frantic movement and muffled yelling- Bellum, most likely. "I'm going to need to grab you," Ghirahim quickly shouted, slowing as he reached Linebeck. The engineer only grunted when he was touched and pulled to his feet, then hoisted into Ghirahim's arms.

The floor underneath them began to crumble as Ghirahim ran to the connecting platforms. The engineer wasn't too heavy, but he was trembling while Ghirahim carried him, keeping himself steady by wrapping his left arm around the demon's neck. "Th-thanks."

"No problem." Ghirahim made it to solid ground quickly enough but watched the rest of the bridges crumble before letting Linebeck stand on his own. "Are you alright?"

Linebeck let out a shuddering breath, shifting from foot to foot. He reached up and tugged at the rip in his coat, swaying. "D-damn... I'm more w-worried about my coat." He stumbled back a few steps.

Ghirahim nodding stiffly. He reached for Linebeck's shoulder to try and steady him, but got his hand slapped away. "Sit down- we need to take a look at that before we do anything else. We don't need blood getting everywhere- my shirt is already ruined enough."

They found bandages in the medical kit Linebeck had brought along, and Ghirahim lined up some potions they could use. Stitching was probably the best option, but they had nothing to stitch the gash closed with. They settled for tightly wrapping Linebeck's shoulder in bandages. Multiple times, Linebeck flinched at Ghirahim's touch and even almost shoved him away a few times. Once the cut was bandaged up, Linebeck crawled to the edge of the platform and retched a few times.

Ghirahim got to his feet, watching Linebeck at the edge. "Sorry for having to touch you so much."

"Sh-shut u-up. Wh-what now?" Linebeck wiped at his mouth and got to his feet, swaying again. "We've g-got two... pressure plates." He stepped onto one of them, pressing down on his shoulder wound. Ghirahim stepped on the other, and a shoddy wooden chest appeared between the plates.

Ghirahim let out a heavy sigh and practically kicked the lid off. His lip curled in distaste as he glared at what was inside. "This shit is not worth everything we just had to deal with." He reached in and pulled out half a key.

"Bullshit," Linebeck spat, peering into the now empty chest. "Goddammit. Link and Midna had better have the other half of this stupid thing." He pointed at a thin bridge that was slowly appearing between their platform and the beginning of the hall. "Let's meet back up with them."

* * *

Link waved at Ghirahim and Linebeck as they walked back into the original room. Ghirahim held up half the key. "Please tell me that you nerds have the other half of this."

"We do," Midna said, holding up her half. "How was your guys' little adventure."

"Awful," Linebeck snapped. "Can I leave early? I don't like the experience of almost dying." He rubbed at his shoulder, glaring at the rip in his coat. "Plus, I need to fix this."

"What happened?" Midna asked, staring at the cut.

"Lizalfos," Ghirahim muttered. "Tell us what you guys went through first."

Midna shakily told them about the two paths, but Link was fixated on the gash in Linebeck's shoulder. Based off the twitching of his ears, Bellum was probably talking to him without materializing. Ghirahim sighed once she was done talking. "Oh, good for you, you got the easy shit."

"What'd you guys get stuck with?"

"Arrows, fire, two bridges crumbling under our feet. I did learn that Linebeck is actually pretty good with a bow."

Linebeck awkwardly cleared his throat. "U-uh, if I'll be honest, those were all lucky shots. The bow fires pretty straight shots, but that wouldn't affect my aim-"

"Then how were you hitting those levers?!" Ghirahim snapped.

"Luck, I think." Linebeck pressed at the bandaged wound in his shoulder again. "Can we just put the damn key together and figure out what's going on? I assume whatever's past that door is why these monsters kept reappearing at midnight. You guys go ahead without me, I'll be useless. Link can handle the bow." He started to withdraw the weapon from his bag.

"D-don't," Link said. "You should come with us, but just stay far away from whatever might be happening. We might need some of your skills."

Linebeck sighed. He vaguely gestured for Midna and Ghirahim to put the key together. The two halves clicked together effortlessly, and they took it over to the door.

"Nothing special," Link muttered. It was just a large wooden door, the golden keyhole looking to be the most interesting part of it. "Though some of what we had to deal with was most certainly created by some interesting magic and tech."

"Didn't look Sheikah," Linebeck mumbled. "Nothing like the ruins around the castle. More magical, definitely."

Midna left the key to Ghirahim, who thrust it into the keyhole and turned it, stepping back after it clicked and began to glow. Both the key and the keyhole disappeared, and the door swung inward. Linebeck muttered something about 'bullshit magic' under his breath but followed the group inside at a distance. It was a dark room, of course. Link frowned around, seeing that it was circular. In the dim light, he could see chains in the wall. Considering that they were in a prison of sorts, it was almost cliché. "Looks like this is it," Link announced, peering around for something that might shed some light on the room.

The only light came from the open doors, but, with an echoing creaking sound, the enormous doors slid closed. They were alone in the pitch-black room. They shuffled around, finding each other and huddling close. The only thing that Link could clearly see was Bellum floating around. He groped at his belt and activated his sword, shedding a dim blue light on the ground.

From above, bright light suddenly flickered on, causing the whole group to jump. The room was still empty, but they were trapped. Midna scowled, surveying the room. "Well, this is familiar, eh? Linebeck, stay near us..." The engineer did as she said, stumbling even closer to them while still avoiding contact. They stared around the room and collectively spotted a small, writhing shadow on the floor. It squirmed and rose up as black mist, slowly forming into something humanoid.

The mist squirmed and warped into a more solid shape, a low humming noise emanating from it as it moved. All weapons were pointed at it as it trembled and solidified, forming into what looked like an armored human, faint yellow and orange lines appearing on the armor. It stood at eight feet tall, wielding a thin sword in one hand. The armor was solid and shiny, covering nearly the entirety of the entity's body, aside from chinks in the armor where shadowy mist spilled out.

With blinding speed, the figure reared back and swung their sword at the group. Link reacted in time, bringing his shield up and blocking the strong attack. Link strained under the pressure of the sword until the warrior pulled back; the group scrambled back before another attack. "Any plans?" Link asked, not daring to tear his eyes away from the shadowy figure.

"You'll take the brunt of its attacks," Midna shouted. "You have the shield, and I'll bet you can counter it really well, too! Ghirahim and I can go around and look for weak spots. Linebeck... stay out of range of it and look for weak spots as well!" She shoved Link closer to the warrior, and he blocked another attack, tilting his shield to force the sword to slide off. "We've got this!"

Ghirahim and Midna quickly began circling the monster at a close range while Link drew most of the attacks, and Linebeck lingered at the perimeter of the room. Every swing of the sword was blocked by the sturdy wooden shield- Link's arms were beginning to burn from the strain of pushing back against the attacks, but he remained persistent, keeping an eye out for any kind of obvious weak spots. Shadows billowed out from the chinks in the armor, but that didn't seem to have any effect on it. The helmet had no openings, so that was out of the question.

Midna and Ghirahim jabbed at the chinks in the armor, sprinting out of range if the monster turned to them. If Link lost its attention, he jabbed his sword into the nearest unarmored part he could find. His sword easily sank into the darkness, but it didn't seem to hurt it in any way. He blocked and parried the sword attacks, staggering back as the warrior shifted its other hand onto the sword hilt and forced more strength into its attacks.

Across the room, with a good view of the monster's back at the edge of the room, Linebeck shouted, "T-there's some kind of red gem in the back of its neck! You can see it just under the helmet. I'll bet that that's a good place if we want to start to hurt it."

Link was subject to more and more vicious attacks as the other three focused on attacking the red gem. Midna probably had the best chance with her spear, and Ghirahim realized this early, joining Link in drawing the attacks. Despite being without a shield, Ghirahim proved fast and wary enough to avoid attacks. "It doesn't seem to have a... human mind," Link shouted. "Ignores its surroundings! If you're going to hit something, hit the gem! Hitting it under the armor catches its attention."

Midna curtly nodded, shifting her grip on her spear. "Get it to look down," she shouted. Ghirahim and Link immediately began to shift closer to the warrior, but it shifted back as well, keeping a good distance as it traded blows with them. It had stopped just banging its sword against Link's shield and had begun to attack in a way that made blocking more difficult. Link stowed his shield on his back and halted the incoming blade with his own sword. To his surprise, the glowing blade didn't cut into the monster's sword at all- as far as he had been told, it should cut through almost anything, including the darkness under the armor.

Ghirahim, at his side, backed up a few paces and waved his arm. Five daggers appeared out of thin air and shot at the monster. Out of breath, Link asked, "Wh-what was that?!"

"New magic that I accidentally discovered; ask about it later." Ghirahim leapt into the battle and easily batted away the monster's sword. "Makes all of this easier, even if it does make me tired." He summoned more daggers with a snap of his fingers, easily catching the warrior's attention. "Should've used this earlier, really."

Midna jabbed her spear at the gem, cursing under his breath as the warrior moved too much to get a good hit. At the walls, Linebeck did little other than nervously nock and un-nock arrows. She couldn't blame him- he didn't have too many relevant skills. At least he was staying out of danger. He was injured enough as it was. Midna sidled to the side in order to remain perfectly behind the warrior, the red gem occasionally glinting from under the helmet.

Her spear with sturdy and fairly light. The spearhead was thin and long enough so that she should be able to shatter the gem, but the warrior moved and shifted too often for her to get a clear shot. With a jolt, Midna recalled something from a few hours ago, and her hand went down to the pouch at her belt. Her fingers closed around a pair of small deku nuts, and she regarded them for a split second. They were tiny little nuts with a yellow-colored inside, glowing slightly. "Close your eyes!" she shouted before flinging them at the ground, covering her eyes with her other arm.

Even with her eyes closed and covered, Midna could see a bright flash along with a short bang. Following the bang was an expletive shouted by Linebeck, and then the sound of something heavy stumbling around. Midna re-opened her eyes, finding the warrior stumbling around, head tilted down and the open hand up at its hidden face. The gem was more visible than ever. Link and Ghirahim were looking shocked and stumbling back, and the quiet, indignant cursing of Linebeck reassured her that they were... mostly safe.

Throwing any hesitation out the window, Midna gripped her spear more tightly and rushed at the warrior again, and strongly thrust the spearhead into the gem, shattering it with little effort. Midna stumbled back, the shattered bits of the gem looking to be like blood spraying through the air.

Where the gem had been, more shadows rushed out and enveloped the warrior. Midna whipped around and rushed towards Linebeck. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Y-y-yeah," he stammered, relaxing a little. "My shoulder feels like hell, I'm useless, uh..." Linebeck smiled weakly. "Nice aim."

"Thanks." Midna let out a shaky breath, glancing over her should. "Oh, for the love of Hylia-" The shadows had completely overtaken the warrior but was now beginning to reform into something else. Midna whipped around, holding her spear out to be ready to attack or defend. Link and Ghirahim immediately snapped back into pointing their swords at the new monster, a shadowy, four-legged beast with a pair of tails whipping around behind it.

Ghirahim and Link immediately attacked it, shouting about another, larger gem on the beast's forehead. Midna sighed heavily and sprinted after the monster as well. Link brought his shield out again and took the brunt of the monster's attacks. It came off as a wolf, with a long snout and sharp fangs. The gem on its forehead was indeed larger, perhaps the size of Link's shield, and more darkness seemed to be swirling inside.

Ghirahim leapt up, summoning daggers and thrusting his sword at the gem. The wolf beast roared and whipped around, slamming it's two tails into Ghirahim and sending him flying into the wall. Link cursed under his breath and dodged out of the way of the tails. Midna stabbed at one of the tails, and shadows billowed out like blood when she ripped the spearhead out. The beast roared, but its attention did not shift over to those behind it, even when Link stabbed his sword deep into one of its hind legs.

Linebeck shakily nocked and shot an arrow at the gem. It stuck in a few inches, creating cracks, but didn't slow the advancing wolf. He shot another arrow, missing and hitting the beast in the eye. It screeched and lashed out with a dark paw, raking hooked claws across Linebeck's chest, throwing him to the ground. It pressed Linebeck to the ground with a heavy paw on his waist and clamped its jaws down on his already-injured shoulder. Linebeck screamed, kicking furiously at the wolf, desperately clawing at its face with his metal arm.

A ringing noise sounded in Link's ears, temporarily shutting out any shouting from Midna or Ghirahim. There seemed to be a strong burst of energy through his limbs, and Link sprinted across the room, ripping a long tear into the side of the wolf as he dashed towards Linebeck, struggling in a steadily growing pool of his own blood. Link jabbed his sword deep into the wolf's neck, angling the blade to try and get the wolf to open its mouth enough to allow Linebeck to escape.

The blade sank hilt-deep into the wolf's neck, and it let out a low groan as Link planted a foot on its jaw. Once its teeth were fully out of Linebeck's wounds, the engineer wriggled his way out with some help from Link. He scrambled away, leaving a trail of blood, and Ghirahim and Midna helped drag him further away from the beast. It turned, clearly intending to go after Linebeck once again, but ended up face-to-face with Link.

It huffed. More shadowy mist poured out from the new wounds, but the only damage that mattered were the cracks in the gem. Link let out a long breath and prepared himself to face off against the wolf once again. It's pair of tails whipped back and forth behind it, and it growled, clearly ignoring the others in favor of the robot standing before it.

Before Link could properly prepare himself, the monster charged at him, it's mouth open and ready to sink its teeth into his body. Moving without thinking, Link jumped up and landed on the top of its head and wasted no time in thrusting his sword into the center of the gem- the glowing blade cleanly slicing into the red stone. The wolf froze, going silent. Link could hear the fearful panting of his friends and hear his own synthetic heartbeat. Then, a low moan emitted from the wolf's mouth, and the gem suddenly shattered beneath Link.

The wolf threw its head back, knocking Link off it. He fell to the ground and scrambled back towards the others. Huddled with them, he watched the wolf stumble and thrash around as fragments of the gem fell from its forehead. As it writhed, the shadows it was made up of began to dissipate, its body growing more and more see-through until it fully disappeared, any remaining shadow floating up into whatever was shining light onto the room.

All that remained was the remnants of the gem. Link let out a weak breath. "Is... is it over? Is that it?"

"Looks like it," Ghirahim rasped. "But did that have any impact?" He smiled weakly. "I mean, I suppose that the Zora were being captured for that... thing to most likely _eat_, but now what that it's dead?"

"Well, it seemed to have been made up of shadows," Midna said, "and that apparently indicates that it was created by someone. Shadow monsters, according to most books, are usually made by someone able to control and shape shadows. It's evil magic." She peered around the room, and the group collectively jumped as the large doors swung open. "Let's get out of here, though. Linebeck and those Zora need help."

Link turned and looked down at Linebeck. He was looking considerably more tired than he had been during the fight, laying mostly still aside from his breathing and occasionally twitching. The right shoulder of his coat was ripped and stained in blood. It wasn't pouring onto the ground like it had been before, but still slowly dripped from the deep cuts. Link moved to reach out to him but stopped himself. "Linebeck? Could you stand up?"

Linebeck sighed. He carefully sat up, grimacing. He glanced around, then at the others. "C-can we leave?" He coughed. "I'd rather not bleed out."

Ghirahim sighed heavily. "I don't understand you," he murmured, getting to his own feet. "Who would you be most comfortably leaning on? Just in case."

"...Probably you." Linebeck shakily got to his feet along with the others. He swayed for a moment, and Midna tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder to help him properly regain his balance. "I-I guess I'll put up with you, too," he mumbled, smiling meekly at Midna.

"What about me?" Link asked, stowing his shield on his back and his sword on his belt. He was dimly aware of rips in his skin and clothing, but everyone else was the higher priority. He offered a small smile to Linebeck.

Linebeck shrugged, then winced. "I'd prefer if you focused more on helping the other Zora with the others. I'll be fine." He stepped away from Midna and walked over to the open doors. "Let's go... We've got a quest to complete, right? I'll get better once we get back to Zora's Domain." He swayed again while walking, prompting the entire group to briskly follow him without examining the empty room any further.

* * *

Bellum floated closer to Link as they returned to the room that the Zora were huddled in, and the pair of them hung back as Midna and Ghirahim went around and let the Zora know that they would be returning to Zora's Domain soon. Link shifted from foot to foot, then glanced at Bellum. The AI hadn't said a word since nearing him. "How's Linebeck?" Link asked.

"Woozy. Honestly, I'm surprised he's still standing. Keep an eye on him on the way back. If you tell him that you'll want to keep an eye on him, he'll only make things harder for all of us. Tell Ghirahim to occasionally walk near him. He might pass out."

"Of course. I'll do that."

Midna led the march outside at the head of the crowd of Zora, Link and Ghirahim looking out for monsters. Once Linebeck was out of earshot, walking closer to Midna, Link sidled over and told Ghirahim to keep an eye on Linebeck in case he passed out. It was dark, so some Zora brought with them torches from the prison to light their way. Link stared up at the sky while they walked, waiting for midnight. Midnight came and went, and Link saw no sign of any lizalfos that they'd already killed.


	20. Shared Fears

**A/N**

**Quick warning- a few sensitive topics are mentioned in this chapter. **

**Otherwise, enjoy.**

* * *

"He passed out on the way back?" Mipha asked, looking a bit unsurprised.

"Yeah," Midna sighed. "Ghirahim carried him the way back. How are the rest of the Zora we found?"

"Hungry and hurt, but... almost everyone is accounted for. We're missing a few... they're most likely dead." The Zora princess shook her head. She glanced over her shoulder at another Zora that was in the room. "You may leave." He nodded and left the isolated hospital room.

Midna waited for the door to close before sighing. "Anyways." She shifted her gaze down to Linebeck, out cold and laid on a table in the room. They'd removed his coat and given it to Damien, whom they trusted to take the most care of it. She stared at what she could see of his wound, a bloody mess with bits of ripped bandages. "Would you say there may be permanent damage to his shoulder?"

Mipha frowned, looking him over. "It's hard to tell. You may need to remove anything covering it." Midna nodded and got to removing Linebeck's scarf, setting it to the side. "Was he injured in any other way?"

Midna shook her head, removing Linebeck's vest. "He has scars, of course, but the damage to his shoulder is the only open wound."

"How was he hurt?"

"A lizalfos attack to the shoulder and then a giant wolf tried to remove his remaining arm. Ghirahim got slammed against the wall, but he's not hurt." Mida peeled back the bloodied dress shirt, grimacing at the gouges in Linebeck's shoulder. "Damn. We're lucky that we weren't attacked on the way back. How are the other Zora?"

"Hungry, but safe. They're being tended to." Mipha gentle brushed away Midna's hands and got to gingerly picking out the shreds of bandages from the wound. "This is a deep laceration. He's lost quite a bit of blood." She frowned at his chest, and said, "Based off how much I can see, I wouldn't be surprised if the bite reached his bones. I know little about Hylians, but are you supposed to see the entire ribcage with such ease?"

Midna let out a breathless laugh. "Oh, no, he just neglects his body's needs. He's underweight, definitely, it's just hard to tell when carrying him because his prosthetics are made of metal and rubber."

"Rubber?"

"To avoid conduction. It's pretty well made." Midna tugged the shirt down from around his other shoulder. "Don't try to remove it; you can't. I doubt you'd need to, anyways."

"I won't. I just need to work on this shoulder." Mipha, without stopping her work of removing bandage shreds, frowned at the blotchy scar on Linebeck's chest. "That looks like that was one nasty wound. How did he get that?"

Midna shrugged, staring at it. She hadn't seen it too often, and it surprised her every time. "No idea. We have amnesia- we can't remember anything before about a year ago. We don't know how Linebeck got that scar or how he lost his arm and leg. Mysteries abound. He has a few scars like that."

Mipha nodded absently, now holding her hands above the wound. They were glowing a gentle teal color, and the laceration was very slowly healing. "Do you and your demon friend have similar scars?"

"No. For Ghirahim, it makes sense, knowing that he's supposedly an old, powerful demon, while... I'm not sure about myself. I haven't seen any scars, but my skin is different than theirs."

With an attempted subtlety, Midna carefully pushed Linebeck's right sleeve off his wrist and replaced it a moment later, but Mipha caught the quick movement. "What was that for?"

"N-nothing. How's the healing going along?"

"Good, I'm the strongest healer here. The other healers would take perhaps a few hours to heal a wound like this, but I should be done in a few minutes. It helps that there is no residual poison or materials in the cuts." Mipha moved her hands to a deeper portion of the cut. "Is there something wrong with his wrist?"

"I don't think he'd appreciate you looking. Do you need me to stay until he's healed, or may I leave at any time?"

"You decide. Where is Link? I have yet to properly thank him, along with Ghirahim. Who killed the beast?"

"Link did. You could probably heal most of this wound and let the rest of it heal on its own. Should bar Linebeck from doing anything stupid for a few days," Midna sighed, recalling a number of times that Linebeck had gotten into significant trouble, usually with other people. If she or Ghirahim lost sight of him for too long in the city, he usual slipped away to gamble and cheat using Bellum. It was like trying to keep track of a child half the time. At least his discovery of Link gave him more of a reason to stay out of trouble.

"What's the scar on his neck?" Mipha asked, pointing to it. "That would have sliced an artery. It that another unknown?"

"Of course. The only scars that he's gotten in the past year are mostly self-inflicted. He's not in a very good place but burying himself in his work seems to help. I think I'm the only stable person in this group. Linebeck's got his gambling and smoking, Ghirahim... he said he was going to try and find a bar here, to celebrate, I suppose."

"I thought you might be lovesick," Mipha mused, glancing up at her. "Didn't you try and ask Zelda out on a date a day or two ago?"

"I-I... That's not important," Midna scoffed. On the table, Linebeck twitched a little as Mipha's healing closed up part of the wound. "Does this hurt him?"

"No, but it causes a sort of tension in the wound. If it's too much tension, he might wake up. You know what? I'll finish this up and leave him in here to rest. I need to talk with Link, and it'd be a good idea for you and Ghirahim to be there as well."

"No Linebeck?"

"Damien can be there too, if you want. He can tell Linebeck what he missed." Mipha pulled her hands away, peering down at Linebeck's shoulder. The cut was mostly gone aside from some red markings. "Damien... he's at the inn, correct?"

"Yes, Link should be talking with him..." Midna frowned. "You sound like you know Damien. Like you're friends." She collected Linebeck's scarf and vest in her arms, practically tossing them on top of him.

"Well, we are," Mipha coolly answered, walking over to a nearby counter. She picked up and looked over a pair of potions while she talked. "We met a couple years ago. We don't talk all that much, but we're familiar with each other. Whenever passing by Zora's Forest, he usually takes the time to visit. As for Linebeck, I'll arrange to give him his reward for his services after he wakes."

"What's that reward?"

"We'd found some odd materials a few months back- they look the same as what he's been using. He should have more to do with him. In addition to some reward money, since that seems to be his priority." Mipha sighed heavily. "I really must apologize for any bluntness I may have had with you. I've been on edge, and all of this is been terrifying my little brother... I'm just happy it's all over."

"You're welcome, then. If you plan to talk with us in a bit, can you at least wait? I need to talk with Zelda."

"This may seem rude to say, but the Queen has always seemed odd to me," Mipha murmured. Midna raised an eyebrow, listening intently. "My father... Zora can live to around 150 years, so none of us were alive when Hyrule was ruined, but my father's father was. According to him, the fact that there still is a royal family today is impressive. Apparently, most everyone in the area of what is now the junkyard was wiped out."

Midna nodded, then asked, "Did your grandfather have any idea as to what may have happened?"

"A few years before the incident, Hyrule City was actually closed off from the rest of the world. There had been prophecies of doom and destruction for Hyrule, and the rumor was that the Queen of Hyrule at the time had found the hero of the time, and the two of them were trying to stop whatever imminent disaster had been foretold. It seems like they failed."

"We think Link might have been the Hero from back then," Midna blurted out. "He could easily be from 200 years ago, and Zelda sees him as the current hero. We... we think that the Yiga might be trying to replicate what happened back then. Well, that's what Zelda thinks."

"That makes sense. Good theory. Well, I hope you can stop the second apocalypse in time. Zelda's in the training grounds- she seems angry about something."

* * *

Mipha was right- Zelda was fuming when Midna found her. While still precise and well-aimed, the Queen's sword swipes and stabs seemed much more forceful and quicker than before, a number of metal training dummies sporting holes and dents that Midna hadn't recalled seeing before. She seemed to be saying something under her breath, her eyes fixed on something that wasn't there as she whipped her sword around. "...Zelda? May I speak with you for a bit, if that's alright?"

Zelda paused in what she was doing and let out a long exhale. She shakily sheathed her sword and turned to Midna. "Of course, is it okay if we talk here?"

"Yeah. Mipha says that you're angry about something. Did... something happen?"

The Queen scowled. "Well, of course. Remember when I mentioned that the Yiga were planning a siege on each town?"

"Yes, did that happen while we were gone? You said that you got the information specifically from a Yiga assassin, so you know it was true..."

Zelda scoffed. "Turns out there was a change in plan. Apparently, the city was their new target. They apparently attacked and ransacked both the castle and the surrounding city for a few hours. As far as we know, there were no civilian casualties, but the Yiga killed a number of Sheikah. Now they keep periodically jumping out and attacking random patrols... and to make things worse, they simultaneously hijacked all of our supply lines that were heading towards the other villages. Turns out they're a bigger problem than I thought... Damn it." Even though her expression was calm and composed, fury burned in her eyes. It reminded her of Link- how he usually was calm and friendly but would snap if pushed far enough, like with the Yiga in Kakariko.

"...Damn. They changed their plans, then. How would they have figured out that you knew about the sieges? The only ones you told aside from some of your Sheikah were us, right? And none of us left Zora's Domain, we all have alibis." Midna frowned, thinking to herself, then softly asked, "Do you think there's a Yiga spy following us around? Even Damien is out of question- we all know where he was the whole time."

Zelda set her jaw. "Perhaps... someone who was with me during the interrogation was a spy. I was with Impa and two others... You all shouldn't worry about it. You need to go to Rito Village next. I'm withdrawing Koko from her current post; I'm sending her back to the city. You'll be fine on your own. Mipha must talk with you all soon, correct?"

"Y-yes, but I still have one more question. You know a lot about magic, right?"

"Indeed, I'm skilled with magic, even if I don't show it off very often. I heard that Ghirahim discovered more of his, how is yours coming along?"

"Not well, but that's not what I'm asking about. The Twili- my kind- I read that sunlight is supposed to harm us." Midna shifted her cloak, looking at her skin. "It doesn't hurt me. I don't know if that means that I'm somehow not Twili, but I can use the right magic... I was wondering if you knew anything."

Leaning in slightly, Zelda frowned. She looked over Midna's skin, then tentatively reached out. She paused. "I'm going to check to see if there may be a spell protecting you from the sunlight- otherwise, you're right, you should be dead, considering how it's almost always sunny in the wasteland." Midna nodded slightly, holding her arm out more.

Zelda placed her hand on Midna's arm and tilted her head to the side. "Give me a moment." Her hand began to glow softly. "If I recall correctly, the Twili may be susceptible to sunlight since they are accustomed to the twilight of their own world. I heard that, in the past, the leaders of the Twili would sometimes come and converse with the other rulers of Hyrule, but they were the least involved. Similar to the Sheikah in their general detachment, but they, of course, weren't as tightly intertwined. In one of the castle's courtyards, there is an old, shattered mirror. It's believed to be the gateway between our world and the Twilis, but it's broken now. Which makes me wonder how you showed up here, along with an ancient demon lord and..." The Queen trailed off with a humorous smile. "Well, I suppose there isn't much that is remarkable with Lancrester."

"You can call him by his first name, Y'know," Midna murmured, staring at Zelda's hand. After a few drawn-out moments, the glowing stopped. Zelda stepped back with a sigh. For a moment panic sparked in Midna's mind. Did she find something wrong?

"Peculiar," Zelda mused. "There's an old, powerful active on you, protecting you from the sunlight. It seems to have been casted quite a while ago but has not weakened in the slightest. Lucky you."

Another mystery to add to the list, then. Midna looked over her arms, then sighed, tugging the cloak back over her shoulders. "Thank you. Will you be continuing to Rito Village with us...?"

"I'm needed at the castle. We... need to decide to do with the people now that the Yiga are more actively attacking. A lot of people have abandoned the area around the castle. We... may have to use an underground version of the city-"

"A _what_?!" Midna blurted, doubting what she'd just heard. "A-an underground version of the city?!"

Zelda laughed breathlessly. "Yes. In the past few decades, we've discovered a well-constructed but smaller city, hidden in the junkyard. Based on how it's only about ten feet below the city, it may have been the city from 200 years ago. Lots of it was in ruins, but we've fixed it up. It seems to have been very advanced, as well, but we're unable to power it. The lighting magic capsules that we use to power everything up here do nothing. For now, we might have to stick with torches."

"Who have you told about that?"

"Only a select few people, but a few citizens know about it. It's mostly like a myth to most people, but we might have to have them live down there for a bit. The biggest problem is the amount of entrances and heat getting trapped- we obviously can't demolish the city above."

"What if you harvest the tech from down there and move it to the surface city?" Midna suggested. "Perhaps you can just... abandon the old city or use it for something else. It might not be safe to move everyone down there- you might be trapping them, and the Yiga might already know about it."

Zelda opened her mouth, then closed it with a frown. "You have a great point. Perhaps that's what we'll do. How about this? You lot help out at Rito Village, then come back to the city for a little bit. I'll have the Sheikah excavate some of the tech and general history. If we can, we'll integrate it to the city. None of the buildings will be altered, since that will cause a problem, but we might set up some of the ancient lamps and... tracks that we've found."

"Tracks?"

"Like... hm. I could compare them to minecart tracks. They were all around the old city, with a few... carts, I suppose. They must've been used to transport people around the old city. On another note, we've found old statues that depict a hero much like Link- so there's a chance he was, indeed, created back then. There are also refences, etched into plaques on the statues, to three others that were meant to combat the impending doom of Hyrule. A powerful battler, a skilled magician, and a talented engineer. History seems to be repeating itself, as it always has in Hyrule. For now, though, Link and the rest of your little group are on the path to finding the Master Sword, I should hope."

"The... Master Sword? As in 'The Sword That Seals the Darkness'? The mythological 'Blade of Evil's Bane?"

"Yes, yes," Zelda said, waving her hand. "It has many verbose and rather pompous names, but, yes. Mipha should give Link something to aid him in unlocking it, but no one knows where it currently rests." With her arms now crossed, Zelda nodded to Midna. "I must leave now. I wish you and the others luck." She reached out and shook hands with Midna. Her hands were calloused and hardened from regular swordplay.

* * *

Midna found the rest of her friends just as Mipha met with them. The Zora princess waved at her as she approached. "Hey. Did you talk with Zelda?"

"Yeah." Midna sat on the bed next to Ghirahim, who was nonchalantly inspecting one of his magic daggers. Link was standing still, not doing much of... anything. At that moment, he looked more like a robot than he ever had. Damien was standing next him, arms crossed with a blank but tense expression. He seemed on the verge of asking a question, most likely about Linebeck's condition.

"First off are congratulations and thanks," Mipha began. "All of the Zora thank you for saving us from further danger at the hands of the lizalfos. We've discovered that monsters are no longer re-appearing at midnight- you somehow managed to stop that."

"That's good," Link interjected. "I'm glad that we managed to stop that."

Damien sighed, adding to Mipha's pause. "How's Linebeck?"

"He's fine, he just needs a bit more time to heal. Damien, I appreciate your help with creating that tracker."

Damien blinked, as if surprised. "I- uh- all I did was offer support and keep him sane, really. I didn't do anything." He rubbed the back of his neck, guiltily looking off to the side.

"In keeping him... sane, I suppose, you helped. It was a small help, but it mattered. Now, Link." Mipha turned to him. Her hands had been clasped together while she'd been talking, and she revealed that she had been holding something- a small pendant. It was a small blue sphere with a little white marking painted on it, tied to a leather string. Mipha held it out to Link. "This is a Zora treasure of sorts; it's a treasure to all of Hyrule, but we were trusted with protecting it. It's called the Pendant of Wisdom. As far as we know, it has no magical traits, but it may be used to allow access to the Master Sword. Zelda tells me that you will need it. I trust you all to take care of this pendant until it is needed." Mipha gently set the little pendant into Link's hand. "It's small enough that you could tie it to a strand around your neck and wear as a necklace. You could keep track of it that way."

Link held it up close to his eyes. The white symbol was a small marking that Link had seen all over Zora's domain, three circles connected by curved lines. "...Thank you." Link closed his hand around it, noting that he would need to buy some kind of string.

"I believe that this is what Zelda intended for you to do. The power and courage pendants should be in Rito Village and Goron City- I hear that they're having trouble as well. That, and the increased aggression from the Yiga... The rumor is that a man names Ganondorf is the leader of the Yiga, correct?"

"Yes. She thinks that he's the one trying to bring about the downfall of Hyrule, I think. Do we have any proof that Ganondorf is even leading them, though? Any proof that he's even alive?"

"Well, about... a little over 20 years ago, a male Gerudo was born and raised to be their king until he disappeared after he turned 16. The rumor is that he was named Ganondorf. That seems to be a traditional male Gerudo name, even if it has negative connotations. The Yiga had already existed at that point but got much worse a few months after the Gerudo boy disappeared. It's a strong theory. I believe it."

Ghirahim let out a long sigh, diverting all attention towards him. "Well, what does Zelda want us to do with him? Kill him with the Master Sword? Do we even need a powerful sword of legend to kill him? And how would that do anything, I bet it would only spur the Yiga to try even harder to take over." He crossed his arms, shaking his head. "Seems pointless. Why even bother with us? Zelda practically has an army on her side; I doubt for random people with dubious backgrounds are too helpful, even if one of them might be the legendary hero."

Mipha shrugged. "Good point. However, there is subtle proof that the Triforce has been tampered with at some point."

Link blinked. "T-the Triforce? What do you mean, tampered with?"

"Every few years, the leaders of each of the races of Hyrule will meet up in order to make sure that the Triforce is safe. Whomever the Queen of Hyrule is at that time will take them to the Temple of Time- an old ruin beneath the castle. There, the rulers are allowed a glimpse into the scared realm. That temple was one of the old resting places for the Master Sword, hence why it allows limited access into the sacred realm. They don't truly enter it, obviously, but they all experience a collective vision that allows them to check on the state of the Triforce. I do not know how this is done since I'm clearly not the leader of the Zora yet, and my father is vague with the details. Either way, he tells me that, even when he first became the Zora king, the Triforce was always missing."

"Missing?!"

"Yes, but don't share that information. If word gets out, panic will spread. Typically, the Triforce only leaves the sacred realm when someone with the intent of taking it to fulfill their wishes does not have the right balance of Power, Wisdom, and Courage. It splits into its three parts, the person whom had touched it gaining the part that best fits them, and two others get the other two, based on whom the goddesses deem worthy of wielding them. We don't know who has the three parts. Link, as the possible hero from 200 years ago, you may have it, since you were still alive all this time, but we're not sure about the other two.

We all thought Zelda would have Wisdom, as its traditional in the old stories for the princess or queen at the time to have it bestowed upon her, despite a few exceptions, but she's shown no sign of wielding it. Ganondorf may have Power as the Yiga leader and since he shares the name of past wielders of that third, but we obviously don't know. Of course, that also hinges on when it was split. If it was split any time in the past 200 years, then Link would most likely have courage, but, for the other two... either two people now have them, or the one who had it are dead, and those two parts of the Triforce are up for grabs, providing anyone can find them."

"Sounds like the whole deal with the Triforce is all complicated," Damien muttered. "But you think that Link might have Courage?"

"It's my best guess, but it's hard to know. There are a few shrines dedicated to the goddesses at the edges of Hyrule, untouched by the apocalypse from 200 years ago. The ones dedicated to Farore would show the marking of the Triforce if Link has it. Just walking into the waters of the shrines would show it. We have a shrine dedicated to Naryu near here, but that wouldn't help."

"Are you sure it's even possible for me to have a part of the Triforce?" Link asked. "I mean... I'm a robot. Not a... person."

"Well, we won't know unless we try!" Midna declared with a confident tone. Her smile wavered, however. "Is there a shrine to Farore on the way to Rito Village?"

"Yes, actually, just before you make it to the Tabantha Tundra. It's hidden in the pine forest on the way. Linebeck should be well enough tomorrow morning for you to get going then. I wish you all good luck on the rest of your journey."

"Thank you," they all murmured. Mipha gave them a small nod and left the inn room without another word. Link waited until he could no longer see her, then collapsed onto his bed. It was midday now. They'd returned the Zora home just before midnight, Midna took Linebeck to the hospital about an hour after they returned, and a few hours passed while the Zora prisoners were looked after.

"Should we start packing up?" Link said, mostly thinking out loud. "I mean, if we're leaving so soon. Do you guys know how to get those mechanical horses working? Koko never told us."

"I bet I could figure it out," Ghirahim said. "I brought the least amount of stuff. I'll pack up and get to figuring that stuff out. I'm glad we're leaving. It's so humid after a while. I don't like fish that much. I'm sick of this place." He reached under his bed and whipped out his bag, already half-full with his books and spare potions. The only thing it was missing were his gloves, which he tossed in with little care. "See you guys tomorrow."

"Good night," Midna sighed. She glanced over to the side. Damien shifted from one foot to the other, clearly debating something, then started to leave the inn. "What are you gonna do?"

He paused. "I'll be at the hospital. Might stay the night if I need to." She couldn't see his face, but based on his clenched fists and stiff posture, Midna would've been willing to bet money that worry was written all over his features. Mipha's reassurance that Linebeck was fine didn't seem to comfort him in the least. "Sorry, but can you two pack up our stuff? If we're leaving in the morning, we won't have a chance to do it ourselves."

"Yeah, sure," Link said with a nod that Damien didn't see. The robot silently watched him leave, then turned to Midna. "Do you have somewhere to be, too, or..."

She shook her head with mock despair. "No, you're stuck with me. Hey.." Link raised his eyebrows, watching as Midna dug around in a bag that was obviously not hers. She withdrew a pack of cards with a devious smile. "Wanna play cards? I was doing some snooping a few days ago and found out that Linebeck deemed these cards worthy enough to spend money on. Look-" She handed a card to Link. "They all have art of cats on the back. Makes sense, I saw a couple cats while we were in Kakariko."

Link peered at the art of a sleeping calico cat and turned the card over. Seven of spades. The suite shape was unchanged. "The only difference is the back of the cards?"

"Yeah. Seems worth it, though. He likes cats. So does Damien. So, do you know any card games?"

"...No. The only thing I have on cards in my memory logs is just the basic look of them all. Do you know some games?"

"Obviously." Midna took back Link's card and got to shuffling the deck. "I'll teach you how to play poker. We can bet if we want, since we all share the money. Come here, sit across from me. If I remember correctly, we each have five cards..."

For a robot, Link had a dismally poor poker face. Midna caught onto each of his bluffs and lies, and promptly smashed him into the ground, winning nearly every round unless luck was on Link's side. An hour passed by quickly, and Midna deftly returned the pack of cards to where she'd taken them from. Midna quietly shared the hope that Linebeck's modified eyes couldn't pick up fingerprints.

"His eyes are modified?" Link asked.

"Obviously. He can see Bellum, but his vision is pretty sharp, and he can see in the dark much better than we can. Not sure if there's anything else, but that sounds good enough."

* * *

They spent a few minutes in silence, then packed everything up. Link picked a book from his pack and read through it, laying on his bed facing the doorway to their room, able to see the sky through the inn's entrance. Midna left when he was halfway through the short book, announcing that she was going to practice with her magic. Link quietly wished her luck.

He finished his book quickly- it was just a short story, collections of old myths. It was one of the books they'd shamelessly stolen from the Hyrule Castle library. Link tossed it back in his bag and wrapped himself up in his blankets. It did indeed get humid, but, on the other hand, it got rather cold. Kakariko wasn't too hot, either, like the city or the wasteland. Rito Village was apparently the coldest, so he couldn't wait to go to Goron City at some point, said to be located at the base of a volcano.

With a heavy sigh, Link sat upright. He had nothing better to do. He hopped out of bed and made for the hospital. If Linebeck was still out, he could at least talk with Damien. He walked quietly through the tense hospital, doing his best not to stare at any injured Zora. He'd heard that Linebeck was being kept in a back room, but Link figured that the faint scent of cigarette smoke would lead him well enough.

Link waved a hand in front of his face once he found Linebeck's room. A window was open, but the room still smelled of cigarette smoke nonetheless. Link glared at Damien, sitting in the corner, the source of the acrid smell. "You're smoking in a hospital? Really? At least close the door," he muttered, shutting it himself.

Damien shrugged, regarding his cigarette. "I'm stressed. Do you want something?" He awkwardly gestured to Linebeck, out cold on the table in the room. "He's clearly not awake yet."

"Yeah, I, uh," Link waved his hand again. Did cigarette smoke affect robots the same way it affected humans? Of course, most other robots didn't have synthetic lungs. "I wanted to talk with you. I didn't know that you smoked too."

"Less than he does," said Damien, peering not at Link, but at Linebeck. "Midna said that, uh, you saved him. I appreciate that. Really. Tell Ghirahim I'm grateful, too. And Mipha. Dunno if I have anything to thank Midna for..." He sighed, then took a short drag from the cigarette. "What did you want to talk with me about?" he asked, exhaling more smoke as he talked.

"...I was just going to ask you more about your relationship with the others," Link said, tugging the lone chair in the room over and sitting in it. "When did you guys tell them that you were dating? Or did they find out? Because, when Linebeck went to get the shield and stuff fixed in the city, Midna and Ghirahim just seemed to think that you guys were just close friends."

"Oh, yeah, that," Damien muttered. "Linebeck and I met... I think he said it was about two months after he and the others woke up. I knew Midna as another customer a while after Linebeck and I met, and we started dating a few weeks after I met her. Ghirahim and I met when this whole road trip started. Anyways. I think Linebeck did actually tell them that we were dating, maybe when he came out, probably after, but I think they forgot. I recall Midna seeming a bit confused about what our relationship was like during a few of her visits to my shop after that point. It's been weird."

"Ok. That's all I wanted to know."

Damien frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah. That's all." Link kicked his feet for a few moments, then asked, "When do you think Linebeck will wake up?"

"Sometime in the night or early in the morning. If he doesn't wake up by the morning, I'll be sure to get some coffee. What are you going to do with that pendant that Mipha gave you?"

"I'll keep it safe," Link said. "If we need it to get the Master Sword, so I'll need to keep it safe, along with the others, if we get them. Stopping at the shrine to Farore on the way there will slow us down, but I think it'll be worth it. We should all visit it!" He smiled faintly. "I haven't seen any old structures aside from some small ruins in the wasteland and junkyard, and I bet these shrines to the goddesses are old."

"They probably are. They're been worshipped for a long time. Everyone knows about them. You should go check it out on your own- the rest of us don't really have a reason to go there ourselves and it might be dangerous. Linebeck's wound probably won't heal for a few days, so he should stay out of trouble. Midna and Ghirahim can hold their own just fine, but it's really up to them if they want to go or not. We don't know how the whole thing works, the whole Triforce-part revealing parts. It might not work with multiple people there."

Link frowned, glancing down at his hands. "Oh. Maybe. I wonder... If I have the Triforce of courage, what would that mean for me? Would that make me a target, or... would I just... have it?"

"I don't know how that all works," Damien sighed. He placed the cigarette in his mouth and held both hands up. "If you ask me, it seems a little pointless. I mean, that's not the focus. We don't know if anyone has the other two parts. For now, I think we should focus on the Master Sword and see if the Triforce is important later. Personally... now that I've been pulled into this..." He paused to take a drag from the cigarette. Tilting his head to the side, glancing sidelong out the window he'd opened, he blew out a short burst of smoke. "You all have your own motivations for doing this, right?"

"Yes," Link said. "For me, I just want to fulfill the role of being the hero. The others don't... agree with that as much, saying that I don't need to do that just because I was told to, but it's the only purpose I have right now. I was created for a reason and that has to be it,y'know? As for the others... I think we all share the common goal of wanting to get our memories back." Link was feeling confident in his last statement until he noticed Damien shaking his head ever so slightly. "What?"

"I've obviously been talking with Linebeck about this whole thing. He's brought up the idea that you all might be able to somehow recover your memeories, even though you guys don't even know that it's possible. He-" Damien cut himself off, shifting like he was uncomfortable. "He's... worried about getting his memories back. Scared, even."

"What do you mean? Why would he be scared of recovering his memories. He could figure out who he was, what he did..." Link ran his hands through his hair. "Getting our memories back could help with all of this, maybe unlocking something important!"

Damien chuckled humorlessly. "Then you three can do that. It's just that... Linebeck... just based off what he has now... aphenphosmphobia, all those scars, his prosthetics... He's terrified of what happened to him, and he- we both know that if he were to get his memories back, he would most certainly have some amount of trauma suddenly forced upon him. There would certainly be a great deal of pain, and he's scared that his lost memories contain instances of some kind of abuse or even..." He sucked in a breath, averting his gaze. "Maybe even a rape experience, though I hate to say it. Besides... you're doing just fine without your memories."

Link opened his mouth to reply, but shut it, seeing the somber look in Damien's eyes. He didn't seem to be looking directly at anything, his head bowed while he sat leaning against the wall. There was a period of silence between them, and Damien continued. "...Do you really need your memories back? You're all doing well enough as you are- You've all found ways to be happy and live your lives even though you don't know what happened before. And yet that's not stopping you guys from doing what you want. Of course, for you, Midna, and Ghirahim, getting your memories back might not be so bad. There's no physical evidence that anything horrible has happened- it's still possible that there is trauma in those lost memories- but there don't see to be any echoing effects of any hurt you three may have been through. Plus, you're all so curious and interesting in getting it back that it's a goal that you're willing to fight for. The three of you are stable enough to handle whatever is revealed in your memories.

"Linebeck doesn't have that stability. He's not doing very well even now, hiding from his problems through constant work and generally withdrawing from people. He's told me about how you have dreams of sorts that may allude to who you once were. He and the others have similar experiences. Ghirahim told me that he had a 'flashback' of sorts when unlocking his dagger magic, and Midna has experienced similar events while working on her own magic. Linebeck has dreams that may be memories, like you do, but they're always nightmares- blurry flashes of past events that leave him lying awake in a cold sweat. In his current... mental state, learning about what's left him so battered might be the thing that pushes him over the edge. If he doesn't want to get his memories back, then I'm willing to support him. I just want him to be happy, really. If not, I want him to be safe. I appreciate that you're all protecting him, but just don't force him into doing something he doesn't want to."

Link silently nodded. There was a tension between them that both of them were uncomfortably aware of. They both momentarily glanced at Linebeck, still out cold on the table between them. Link rocked forward in his chair, then asked, "Hey, uh... We might have to go through another dungeon-thing when we get to Rito Village. Do you... want to go with us that time? To stay with Linebeck?"

"On, no," Damien mused, waving his hand. "No, I trust you all to protect him. I would just get in the way. You all don't know how I operate like you know each other. I'd rather maintain the fact that I'll be there for Linebeck."

"Seems like he's really dependent on you."

"He is, but only a little. He needs me for supports, but he can otherwise handle himself, y'know? I think we complement each other really well." Damien paused. "We've got plenty in common, too. Engineering and woodworking can go hand-in-hand sometimes. It's a good balance, and he's comfortable with me touching him, as long as he's aware of it."

"Do you think it'd be possible for Linebeck to... completely get over his aphenphosmphobia?"

"Eventually," Damien sighed, sliding off the table he was sitting on and pulling up a chair next to Linebeck. "But he's not very desperate for that outcome, either. He can live with a fear of being touched, and he's doing well as he is. All he needs to really do is just tell people. He's touch-averse anyways, he wasn't a fan of me touching him for a good while. He also has other, deep-rooted fears that involve touching or being touched, so we have that, as well."

"What are those fears?" Link asked, now certain that the tension from before had eased.

Damien started to answer, but they both went silent when Linebeck shifted on the table. Link saw Bellum flicker into existence out of the corner of his eye but ignored him in favor of watching Linebeck wake up much earlier than Mipha said he would. He sat up, flinching any time he put weight on his right arm, and glanced at Link, then Damien. "Is this bad timing or are you guys happy to see me awake? You look a bit surprised."

"Mipha said you were supposed to wake up tomorrow morning," Damien said, crossing his arms on the table. "I thought I'd have the spend the night until you woke up or something, but here you are, a few hours later." He reached into his pocket and held out a pack of cigarettes to Linebeck.

Linebeck took a cigarette and lighted it as he peered at Link. "So, uh, did I thank you for saving my ass back there?"

"No."

"Right. Thanks for that. Who carried me back?"

"Ghirahim. Midna was with Mipha when she healed you, though. It was a team effort. We're talking about you now."

"Of course you are," Linebeck sighed. "What about me, then? I'd like to be part of this conversation." He sat with his legs crossed and a thin smile on his face.

"Well, we started to talk about your 'lesser' phobias," Damien explain, getting up onto the table with Linebeck. "Do you want to start? I know that Midna and Ghirahim know, but of course, we need to tell Link."

Linebeck nodded, exhaling a bit of cigarette smoke. Link grimaced at the smell, quietly thanking Hylia that he was immune to any kind of lung disease. "Well, one of the more concerning ones is- Did you mention why I might have aphenphosmphobia?"

"We had the memory talk, yes."

"Cool. I'm extra afraid of being touched by women. Like, twice as scared of being touched by a woman than by a man. Could have to do with the fact that I'm gay, but it's just concerning."

Linebeck leaned against Damien, cueing for the other man to continue. "He gets uncomfortable around bars and drunk people in general. Speaking of, I saw Ghirahim in the local Zora bar, so I'm pretty sure he's going to try and figure out how to get those mechanical horses to work while wasted."

"Yeah." Linebeck glanced momentarily at Bellum, then quietly declared, "This is therapeutic, what the hell. Anyways. Dogs make me very uncomfortable, I hate being around them, but I admit that they are cute. I prefer cats."

"Let's see... making friends is a sore spot for him, and if anyone shows aggression towards him, touchy or not, he gets scared and defensive. Being made fun of is also a sore spot, but," Damien sighed, laying an arm across Linebeck's shoulders. "We're both pretty sure that you've got an inferiority complex. Is that all?"

"Yeah, sounds about right. You should go and check on Ghirahim," Linebeck told Link.

Link didn't object as he got up to leave. Linebeck was more intimate with Damien than him, so Link sticking around would just be rude. He left the hospital and found Zelda lingering in the lobby. "Oh, hi, Zelda. Midna said that you left."

"I meant to, but I've decided to give you some advice for the journey ahead." Zelda shrugged. "Since I can't keep going with you, dealing with the situation at the city."

"Yeah, Midna told me what happened. What are those damned Yiga up to?"

With a heavy sigh, Zelda shook her head. "They aim to kill me, but they clearly underestimate the difficulty of that job. Just know that I will be safe and collect the Master Sword. The Yiga- they originate from a cult that worshipped the very being of hatred that only the Master Sword could destroy, along with other beings of darkness that directly serve it. The Yiga's boldness implied that they may have an ally of that ancient hatred on their side. So be wary."

Link's mind flashed to that note the axe-wielding Yiga had dropped. "...You want me to be aware of any kind of deception?" The possibility of that black-scarfed Yiga being a spy for Zelda popped into his head. It would only make sense for her to have a Yiga spy, what if the axe Yiga was one of them, and the note was an odd way for Zelda to let him know to trust them? No, that didn't make any sense. He almost directly quoted the note but got no kind of reaction.

"I suppose," said Zelda. "As I said, be wary. The Yiga cannot be trusted- never. If you need any sort of help from me, don't be afraid to send a letter or reach out." She held out her hand, and she shook hands with Link. The robot watched her leave and did his best to not worry. She was surrounded by Sheikah guards, and was skilled in both sword fighting and magic, the Yiga wouldn't be able to so much as touch Zelda.

Ghirahim coming up behind Link shook him from his thoughts. "Hey. I thought you were with Midna."

Link blinked at him, noting the bottle of alcohol in his hand. "Is that freshly-bought or are you already drunk?"

"Freshly-bought. I need help with those mechanical horses, so can you come with me?"

"Y-yeah, sure. Wouldn't hurt. I'm in desperate need of fresh air right now."

"Why?"

"I was just in a room with two smokers."

"Damn." Ghirahim patted Link on the head. "Yeah, let's go get our bags, too. We'll be ready whenever, then."


	21. The Isolated Shrine

Midna sat in the front carriage, fighting against the urge to sleep. The others, Link, Ghirahim, Linebeck and Damien, all of them were asleep or at least resting. It was her turn to make sure they were on track, in charge of the mechanical horses. She had about two hours before it was Link's turn.

It was the middle of the night, and they were miles away from Zora's Domain, now, out of the forest and now in the rocky plains, a few pine trees dotting the hills around them. Mipha had provided them a small map to help them on their way to Rito Village, marking the shrine to Farore that was on their way. Midna unfolded the map and switched on the lantern they'd brought. They were close to halfway to Rito Village and would most likely make it to the shrine by the time it was Link's shift.

Midna yawned, putting a hand up to her mouth. Ghirahim and Link had figured the mechanical horses out rather quickly, and Linebeck waking up early allowed them to leave in the late evening. So, they left early, sure to reach their next destination by early morning.

Ghirahim fell asleep, or, more rather, passed out first, finishing the alcohol he'd brought rather quickly. Link brought up the idea of taking shifts, and he had the first, then Linebeck, and now it was Midna's turn. Link was curled up in a pair of blankets in the second carriage. Were there always only three carriages? Midna could care less.

Linebeck and Damien took the last carriage as their own, smoking what was probably half a pack of cigarettes before turning in for the night. She doubted they were asleep, though. It was subtle, but she could tell that Damien was immensely relived that Linebeck was okay. He came off as nonchalant and calm about it, but the look in his eyes and how he stuck with Linebeck for the rest of the night said all she needed to know about how relived he was, and how scared he had been.

Midna glanced back at the third carriage, past the sleeping forms of Ghirahim and Link. She hadn't checked back there in a while. They weren't asleep. Linebeck and Damien were, as far as she could tell, awake.

And, if her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, it looked like they were... dancing?

They looked like they were practicing a waltz of sorts, and the way they occasionally would lose their composure, or their shoulders would shake implied laughter. Damien's steps were careful and practiced, while Linebeck was clumsier, looking down at Damien's feet and trying to mimic him. Damien had his left hand on Linebeck's shoulder, Linebeck with his right hand on Damien's back. Their other hands were held up and clasped together. Definitely a waltz. It looked more like an awkward shuffle occasionally punctuated by one of them laughing or pausing to talk, but the constant contact between them made it more than some clumsy dance.

As she watched, Midna felt her body go slack in the shadows. She hoped they didn't notice her watching, and quietly wished that she could just melt into the shadows of the carriages. She pressed her back to the cloth walls of the carriage, silently watching the pair of men quietly dancing, or, well, trying to dance. While she watched, envy burrowed into her heart. She pressed and pressed against the cloth, not at all worried about ripping it, and then felt the strangest sensation- pins and needles inched across her whole body, and a brief wave of nausea washed over her, and everything was suddenly slightly brighter. It wasn't until Midna tried to move her arms that she realized that she couldn't see her body.

Panic set in, and she remembered a small section about the Twili in the stolen book, the part about what magic they could use. Her mind flipped past the unimportant information that the book had provided until she recalled the section about their ability to walk in the shadows. Midna tried to move again, and dimly felt her limbs move, but as if they were distant. She moved again, mimicking a swimming movement, and moved to a different part of the shadow.

It was like being in water- She swam around in the shadow, quickly getting accustomed to the movement, and decided to see if she could make it to the third carriage. It was simply like swimming, but in a flat surface. Everything outside the shadow was lighter, and bright lights were harsh. There was a moment where her heart skipped a beat- she'd instantly gone from the shadow of the carriage wall to the shadow cast on the grassy ground. She made her way back to the carriage and continued down the line of carriages. If she was to properly utilize this new skill, Midna certainly needed practice.

Once at the third carriage, she paused in the shadow above the bench and quietly watched the clumsy waltz play out in front of her. They clearly didn't have official training, but Damien clearly had more experience. He murmured gentle instructions, nudging Linebeck's foot into the right place with his, but they both seemed too distracted by each other to properly dance. They each had stupid grins on their faces, stumbling around and giggling like a pair of children. The envy burned in Midna's chest.

As they kept dancing, they stopped trying to make it a waltz and started leaning into each other, talking quietly between chuckles. They giggled to each other again and paused, and Damien murmured something, and the two of them continued to practice their waltz. Damien quietly lead Linebeck through the steps, patiently teaching him box step.

As she watched, a sudden flurry of images and feelings rushed through her mind. Snapshots of an unfamiliar yet familiar scenario. Flashes of another woman's face, Midna's arms wrapped around her waist, the other woman's arms resting on her shoulders. They were dancing, and a distant feeling of happiness overwhelming the envy before it suddenly fizzed out along with the images. She felt dazed, so much so that she didn't realize that she accidentally exited the shadow.

She realized at the same time Linebeck did, catching sight of her and jumping back, clearly startled. "Son of a _bitch_, Midna! What the hell- how the hell did you get here?! How long have you been watching us for?! What the fu-"

"Sorry, sorry," Midna choked out, getting to her feet. Linebeck was still looking shaken, hands tightly clamped on Damien's shoulders, and Damien looked less scared and more miffed, fixing her with a quietly furious glare. "I-I was practicing a new m-magic, moving within shadows! I d-didn't mean to scare you two..."

"It's wonderful that you figured out new magic," Damien snapped, "But I don't appreciate that you decided to spy on us." He gently brushed Linebeck's hands off his shoulders. "Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on the mechanical horses?"

Midna sighed. His words stung like cuts from a knife. "I-I'm sorry," she whispered, head bowed like a humiliated child. The pair of them glared at her for a moment longer. Uncomfortable, Midna quietly said, "I... just saw you guys dancing and thought it was... cute, I guess. I didn't mean to pop out right then."

Linebeck let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his face. "Goddammit. Just... don't. Please." Damien peered up and him and yawned, sitting down on the bench and crossing his arms. They both looked tired, despite their previous bout of dancing. "How's, uh... how far along the path are we?"

"It should be Link's shift by the time we reach the shrine. I won't tell the others what I saw if you guys want me to keep it a secret."

"Please do that," sighed Linebeck. He collapsed on the bench next to Damien, leaving a few inches in between them. "Good job on figuring out more magic."

"Thanks." Midna shifted from foot to foot, then turned and swiftly returned to the first carriage in order to wallow in her embarrassment until it was Link's shift. Until then, her mind shifted to those images that had played in her head. She had been dancing with another woman sometime in her past, faster than a waltz, but with similar movements. Her features were obscured and blurred, but Midna had a feeling that she beautiful. Or... had been beautiful. There was no guarantee that she was even alive, knowing the world outside the settlements. She could've been killed by monsters or had lived in one of the rumored wasteland towns, where there was always a shortage of supplies.

Midna had only heard of those unlucky towns, but had never seen them, or seen indications of them on maps. They were said to be small, ramshackle settlements stuck in the hot wasteland, susceptible to monster attacks and shortages of food and water. Zelda mentioned them once, in passing, during their time at the castle, but only once. They'd been brought up in a discussion about where Hyrule City would send supplies.

Kakariko Village and Zora's Domain didn't seem short on supplies, but the Zora had constant access to fish and water, and Kakariko was a farming village backed up by Sheikah technology, even if she didn't see much of it. Rumor was it that the Gorons ate and lived off of rocks, so they could survive an apocalypse any day. The Rito were birds, right? So they most likely lived off of... what birds ate. The two different types- predominantly bird-like and then the human-bird hybrids- lived in the same spot but had separate chieftains. She quietly wondered what relations between the two types were like.

Komali was the son of the chieftain of the more human-like Rito, and Revali was the most skilled archer with the completely avian Rito. Medli was just a musician, a friend of Komali's. The two parts had different roles- the more human Rito- referred to as the postmasters of Hyrule since they were in charge of the postal service, keeping track of letters and flying them to and from citizens.

The other Rito were warriors and archers, most of them trained to use the bow and protect their own from monsters and attackers. Revali often boasted about his skill with the bow, and as much of a pain in the ass he was, all of his preening was justified. He also seemed to have a degree of engineering experience as well, but as good as he was, he was nothing compared to what Linebeck was capable of. Midna doubted that Revali was capable of creating a working tracker and electronic map to go with it in under three days.

The thing they had in common was a musical tradition, and many Rito knew how to play at least on instrument. Perhaps Link would find that interesting- Midna and the others had heard Rito music during their city visits, but Link had yet to hear any music at all.

She practiced her shadow-merging magic, checking on the others. Linebeck and Damien had fallen asleep, so she was all alone to keep an eye on the mechanical horses until it was Link's shift. It became colder as they entered a sparse pine forest, and Midna woke Link up for his shift once a craggy, snowy mountain came into view. Link loaned her his blanket and took her spot in the first carriage as she drifted off to sleep.

The air became chilly as midnight approached. Link breathed out, his breath remaining unseen. Not cold enough. A small part of him begged for it to be even colder, so that he could breathe out a little cloud. Link shook his head and unfolded the map of northwestern Hyrule. Kakariko was apparently located in the east, Zora's Domain in the north, and now Rito Village in the northwest. Death mountain, with the Gorons, was in the south. The seaside villages of Mabe and Lurlin were in the southwest.

There were rumors of islands beyond Hyrule, but the amount of ocean that people could traverse was limited. Once travelers got far enough on the sea, their progress was halted by what could've been described as a wall of craggy rocks. Ghirahim had told Link of the sea while half-drunkenly helping with the mechanical horses. They'd never seen it, but Linebeck always made sure to collect rumors and information about it when in the city. But that wasn't relevant now. Link needed to make sure to stop at Farore's shrine.

It was in a denser part of the pine forest, where the hills rose up and the undergrowth was more tightly packed. The monsters in Tabantha, the region the Rito resided in, seemed to be a mixture of lizalfos and bokoblins, and he'd heard rumors of tekkites, spider-like beasts with one eye that hopped around in erratic patterns. The shrine was supposed far from the path, so Link would have to make sure to get the carriages as close as he could before stopping. The mechanical horses were easily controlled with some buttons and levers at the front of the first carriage. Link sat in the open air, watching the landscape go by while he kept track of where they were.

It was cool, but not cold. Link spotted animals and sleeping monsters in the trees, and watched birds fly off into the distance. The landscape slowly became craggier as they headed towards the mountain in the distance, hills dotted with spots of rock, but the trees and plant life remained dense. It was both similar to and different than the forest with streams and rivers running through it that Zora's Domain was nestled in. It wasn't as green, and was much colder, but had similar animals. Link frowned to himself. Maybe they were more different, then.

It was one in the morning when Link stopped the mechanical horses and collected his equipment. He clipped his guardian sword to his belt and stowed his shield on his back and went through everyone else's bags for more items. Link went through Ghirahim's bag, finding a few health potions. He almost took one of them, then realized that it probably wouldn't work on a robot. The injuries that would kill a living being would barely slow him down. The only problem that would come from Link getting 'injured' would be Linebeck angrily repairing him.

The sword and shield were good enough. Link had the horses stopped in front of an opening into a tunnel, covered by bushes and tall grass. The only reason Link knew there even was a tunnel there was because it was mentioned on the map. He hopped off the carriages, and silently hoped that they weren't attacked while he was gone. Momentarily, he wondered if he should wake Ghirahim, but decided against it.

Link shoved aside the branches of the bushes and slipped into the cramped tunnel. It was large enough for him to stand up, but he couldn't move his arms out very far. The lack of a lantern would've been a problem for a human, but Link could see just fine in the dark, able to spot keese bats sleeping upside down on the ceiling of the tunnel. He ducked down under them, fervently offering up a silent prayer that they would stay asleep.

The tunnel was short, and Link walked up a short slope back out into the forest. He found himself in a narrow clearing, the pine trees lining a long, grassy pathway further into the forest. Fireflies hovered around in the underbrush, illuminating the otherwise dark area. Link watched the bugs flicker in and out of visibility and started down the obvious path. The gentle night breeze rustled the grass at Link's feet. He could hear animals moving about in the forest but heard no traces of monsters.

Link had talked with Mipha before they left; she'd implied that the land around the shrines was sacred and devoid of monsters. Despite the howl of wolves in the distance and the random rustling in the bushes, he felt safe walking down the forest path. Still, he was glad to have his equipment with him. The shrines were said to keep away monsters, not people with ill intent. Midna had explained to him the situation with Hyrule City. He was entirely ready to believe that a Yiga spy was trailing them, even if it put him on edge.

The forest path must've been a mile long, since he reached the mossy stone archway a good fifteen minutes after exiting the tunnel. The archway had small pictures and symbols etched into it, worn down by time and the elements. Beyond it looked to be a small, ruined temple, about the size of a shack. A decrepit statue of a woman was on a pedestal in the middle of a pond. Frogs hopped around in the shallow water, and small sparrows flew off as Link stepped into the water.

He waded through the icy water, his body immediately warming up in response to the sudden cold. Link paused a few feet from the statue. Well, he was at the shrine. Mipha didn't say if he'd have to do anything for the Triforce of courage to show itself, but, of course, he wasn't even sure if he had it. He shifted his weight, and noticed a small stone platform under the water, in front of the statue. Link stepped onto it, seeing a symbol that looked like a circle with two curved lines on its right.

Link stared down at if for a few moments, then flinched at an intense burning feeling on the back of his left hand. It intensified until he held it up and stared at the golden glow, too bright for him to see the shape. The burning intensified, and suddenly subsided, and the glow dimmed enough for him to see the shape of three triangles- the Triforce. The lower right Triforce piece glowed even as the other two went dim. Link stared at it, silent and rooted to the spot. For some reason, he was the most stunned by the fact that the Triforce of courage had chosen a robot rather than a living person.

"Are you surprised that you have the Triforce of courage, or do you not recognize what that is? It was a theory, but I suppose that you really are the hero."

Link flinched when he heard the deep voice from behind him. He was frozen to the spot, hearing five sets of footsteps behind him. He knew without looking that it was the five black-scarfed Yiga. Link let out a shuddering breath and tugged his sword from his belt. He could barely handle two at once. All five of them at once would most certainly destroy him, but he would go down fighting if he needed. Anything to hinder the Yiga.

Link whipped around, activating his sword and pulling his shield from his back. The five of them were lined up, effectively cutting off the route to the stone archway. The unarmed Yiga- their leader, Ganondorf, most likely- stood in the middle, his generals lined up on either side of him. They all had the same mask and long black scarf, the rest of their uniforms varying.

Link let out a long exhale. He pointed his sword at the middle Yiga. "You're Ganondorf, aren't you?"

"Of course," he responded. He was taller than the other Yiga by a good foot but was the only one without a weapon. The rumor had been that he went for hand-to-hand combat, but Link quietly reminded himself of the possibility of magic. "And you're Link? The robot that might be the hero of this era? It's nice to meet you. My friends here have met you as well. I hope we can have a nice chat tonight."

Fury rushed though Link's body. "A chat? You and the rest of your damned Yiga just began a siege on Hyrule City, and you have the audacity to think that I'd be willing to _chat _with you?!"

Ganondorf held up his hands. His clothing was very similar to the armor of the city Sheikah, albeit looser and with more metal plating. While the other Yiga had hoods over their heads with their upside-down Sheikah eye masks, he had no hood, and Link could see long, red hair cascading down his back. "Our weapons are sheathed," he said. It was true; the katana was in its scabbard, the spear and axe stowed on their backs, and the bow in hand, but the arrows remained untouched in the quiver. "We will attack only if you do."

Link scowled. "Liar."

Ganondorf tilted his head to the side. The other Yiga glanced at him, as if confused. Finally, Ganondorf let out a low sigh. "You ignored our warning."

"What warning-" Link cut himself off. The paper that the axe wielding Yiga had dropped at Hyrule Castle. He growled. "Like I'd take advice from you scum. The only deception I see is right in front of me."

All of the Yiga very audibly sighed. Link flinched. Ganondorf crossed his arms. "You're a fool, know that. We have not killed a single innocent person, only those corrupt city Sheikah. We're avoiding harming citizens, of course. You're being deceived, please know that. Your friends have their suspicions, but you're blinded by some rather convincing lies."

Link sighed. He peered at each of the Yiga in turn, then muttered, "I'll listen. You're all scum, though. I'll listen as long as you tell me your plan."

"Of course." Ganondorf motioned with a hand, and the other four Yiga sprinted towards Link. He tensed up, ready for a fight, but they ran past him, lining up beside the statue. They now had their weapons out but stood idly. "They won't attack unless I tell them to," Ganondorf explained, walking into the water. "You could most likely fend off one of them, perhaps two, but all of us at the same time would leave you in shambles."

"And I could probably kill at least one of you before that happens," Link hissed. "Like you've killed all those Sheikah. They've all got families and friends and you clearly don't care."

"And they chose to side with that fake queen," Ganondorf sighed. "The Sheikah in Kakariko are fine, we don't touch them. It's those kidnappers and torturers in Hyrule City that deserve death. People have been going missing, even before the siege, remember? We're not the ones doing that. People go missing for siding with us rebels or questioning the queen."

"Liar," Link muttered, backing away from Ganondorf. "You have no proof."

"We've seen it happen, don't worry. I understand that you're following the legends of old and siding with the royal family, but things are different this time." Ganondorf stopped a few feet from Link, arms crossed. "I won't blame you if you continued to try and destroy us. Our plan is to dismantle the city Sheikah and kill Zelda."

"Is that all you wanted to say?" Link asked, still ready for a fight.

Ganondorf tilted his head to the side. "If you still want to kill my friends here, then allow me to tell you about them." He glanced off at the four waiting Yiga, all kneeling by the statue. The spear Yiga stood up, facing Ganondorf. "They have a sibling to take care of. Family." The bow Yiga stood up next. "They have no family, but a number of friends that they help and provide for through being a high-ranking Yiga." Ganondorf paused and glanced down at Link. "We're no different than those Sheikah, only we fight for a good cause."

"Well it's a subtle cause, then."

"That's the point." Ganondorf nodded at the axe Yiga, who stood up next. "They have someone in their life that they hope to eventually marry." The katana wielding Yiga stood up last, and Ganondorf said, "And they wish to see the world and do what their late master was unable to do. We all have people that we care for and who are waiting for us. Like you."

"So do the Sheikah," Link muttered, slightly shocked. He'd assumed that the Yiga were normal people, too, but it never occurred to him that some of them were in love or had family to take care of. He glanced at the other four Yiga. They were each standing still, watching Ganondorf. "I still want to take you down. You have no evidence that Zelda is even aware of what the Sheikah are doing, providing the Sheikah are truly guilty."

Ganondorf gestured again, and the rest of the Yiga sprinted away, vaulting over the walls of the ruins and disappearing into the surrounding forest. "You lot are fast," Link muttered. "Why not just do that weird teleporting thing?"

"We didn't bring any tokens to trigger it," Ganondorf sighed. "We'll meet again, hero. Trust me."

Ganondorf began to leave. Link stumbled forward, a question on his mind. "Do you have the Triforce of power?" he asked.

Ganondorf paused. "If I had it, it would've shown itself." He showed the back of his hands to Link. Nothing. "I don't know where it is. As far as I know, no one does. I can only hope that you or your friends are the ones that find it, not that false queen."

Link frowned, still rooted to the spot as Ganondorf left him alone. His fear subsided as he peered around to reassure himself that he was alone. After a moment, he fell to his knees, dropping his sword and shield. Exhaustion suddenly gripped Link, and he struggled to keep from slumping forward and laying in the water. He coughed, shaking not from the cold, but from relief. They could've easily ripped him to pieces. As much as he hated the Yiga, he had to appreciate their mercy.

Once he calmed down, he looked around to see that frogs had started to return to the pond along with the sparrows. They retreated once he stood back up and started on his way back to the carriages. It seemed quieter on the way back. Link kept his shield and sword in hand, the idea of putting them away slipping his mind. A wolf howled in the distance, and Link paused. He stared off into the forest, and idly clipped his sword back on his belt, stowing his shield on his back. If anyone was awake when he got back, he didn't want to scare them with his weapons out.

Ghirahim was groggily poking around the first carriage when Link returned. The demon sleepily greeted him, and Link muttered that it was his shift now. "You seem pissed," Ghirahim drawled. "Do you have the Triforce part or not?"

"I've got it," Link snapped. "Now leave me alone. Get us to Rito Village."

* * *

The first thing that Link noticed when Midna shook him awake was the cold. He blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting to the sunlight. "Good... good morning. Are we there?" Link yawned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. The carriages were stationary, and he could faintly smell smoke and burning wood. "Is that a fire?"

"The others are working on breakfast," Midna explained. "We're just outside Rito Village, cooking a fish that we managed to skewer. We can't take the carriage into the town, and Linebeck and Damien managed to convince us to make our own food rather than buying breakfast. The conversation topic is parent speculation since most of us have no memories of our families."

Midna led Link outside and they sat with the others around a campfire, Ghirahim holding a pan over the flames, slowly cooking the fish. "Where'd we get this pan?" Link asked.

"Drunk purchase from Zora's Domain. I'm glad I picked it up." Ghirahim peered at the fish, which Link assumed was a salmon. They were close to a ravine, near the base of the snowy mountain. The pine forest was behind them now.

It was early in the morning, and everyone looked just a little drowsy. Damien looked like he was about to fall asleep again. Midna blinked slowly, staring into space, and Ghirahim just looked... tired. Linebeck had his googles over his eyes. It was hard to tell how he was feeling. Bellum slowly circled the engineer's head.

"...I doubt I had parents," Ghirahim said. "So I'm not worth talking about. I don't think Link had parents, either, just a creator. I guess he has one parent. Or multiple. We don't know how many people it took to make something as impressive as him."

"Probably took a group," Linebeck mumbled. "I don't really care who my family was. I doubt they were great. Or maybe I was the shitty one. I was probably as introverted then as I am now, since I definitely have a great history with engineering."

"I hope I'm royalty," Midna sighed. "But I don't really care who my family was either. Safe to say, I think our families are all dead. No one knew us when we woke up. What was your family like, Damien? You knew yours, right? No unexplained amnesia?"

Damien sat up and yawned, scratching at the back of his head. His hair wasn't tied back, so Link could see that it reached to only a few inches above his shoulders. The hair tie that he used was around his wrist. Damien pulled the hair tie off his wrist and got to tying his hair back into a ponytail as he talked. "They were pretty good, as far as parents go, but weren't really supportive."

Midna grimace. "Did they treat you badly when you transitioned?"

Damien shook his head. "No, no, they actually died before I could properly come out to them. My father didn't have much of a problem with me openly acting and presenting as a man, but he didn't refer to me as such, and while my mother also refused to refer to me as a man, she also generally discouraged me from acting like it. They both died to a sickness that went through their part of the city when I started carpentry a few years ago. I don't visit their graves very often."

"That sucks," Linebeck mused. "You had supportive friends, right?"

"Yeah I had some friends that helped me get money for surgery and everything." Damien beamed at Linebeck. "And, of course, you showed up and made things even better, so I'd say it all turned out well." He paused, looking considerably more awake. Everyone stared at the fish, and when Ghirahim decided it was fully cooked, Damien piped up with, "How about some coming out stories? If you two are okay with it."

Midna and Linebeck shrugged. "Wouldn't hurt," said Linebeck, tugging his goggles off. "I came out a few weeks before meeting Damien. That's it. You lot are the only ones I've told."

Bellum hovered near Link and whispered, "He was extremely sleep deprived when he came out. He'd gone to the city by himself to collect parts and spend some time with Damien, and practically passed out when he got home. He practically tripped over his words as he said he was gay and then passed out. Midna and Ghirahim made him clarify what he'd said after he woke back up because he practically slurred the whole thing out of exhaustion."

"Shut up," Linebeck hissed, glaring not-so-subtly at Bellum. "Midna, you next," he snapped, keeping his glare fixed on Bellum.

"I mean, there's nothing to say. I figured it out pretty soon after we woke up, so I just announced it one morning and that was that." Midna got up and walked over to the carriages once Ghirahim started cutting up the fish. She returned with plates and handed them out. "Have you ever eaten fish, Link? I can't remember what you have or haven't experienced yet."

"I don't know what it tastes like," Link mumbled. He held his plate out to Ghirahim, receiving a small chunk of salmon. He hadn't expected much, they were splitting one fish between five people, anyways. Link sniffed at it, not finding much of a scent aside from, well... burnt fish. He scraped some scales off with a finger. "Do we have forks or anything?"

"Nope," Ghirahim muttered, splitting the rest of the fish up for everyone else. "Not like that should bother you. We only have plates and this one pan. How about you tell us more about what happened at the shrine?"

"Oh, yeah," said Link. "I do actually have the Triforce of courage." He held up his hand as if showing them the Triforce, then remembered it didn't randomly show itself. "It showed itself a bit after I found the shrine. Also, it turns out that Ganondorf does not have the Triforce of power."

Midna blinked. "...How did you figure that out?"

Damien paused in what he was doing. "Did you run into the Yiga or something? Isn't he their leader?"

"Yeah, he is," Link bitterly muttered. "He and those four other black-scarf Yiga cornered me at the shrine. He... he doesn't have the Triforce of power, because it would've shown itself due to being close to the Triforce of courage."

"Did they attack you...?" Ghirahim quietly asked. "You didn't seem hurt when you got back."

Link shook his head. "They didn't attack me, but I was ready to fight. Ganondorf just... chatted with me, I suppose. They want to kill Zelda and destroy the Sheikah that occupy the city. He kept calling Zelda a 'false queen'. He also went on to tell me a bit more about his four Yiga friends, telling me that some of them had family who relied on them, or that they were in love or had friends to support. Like that would stop me from wanting to..." He trailed off. "I think he was trying to justify their Sheikah killings by telling me that the members of the Yiga had friends and family too."

Midna scoffed. "What were some of his examples of people who cared about his Yiga generals?"

Link shrugged. "The bow Yiga has friends that they provide for, and the axe Yiga apparently has someone they want to marry. For all I know, it's a lie. I could care less about those Yiga scum." He took a bite of his salmon and hoped to drop the subject.

"What if it's not a lie," Damien snapped. "Why bother killing them? I doubt you'd be much of a hero if you kill everyone in your way. No point ruining lives and breaking hearts for the sake of your anger. Their friends might not be Yiga. If you kill Ganondorf's followers, then non-Yiga citizens might turn against you."

Link leapt to his feet, practically tossing his now empty plate aside. "What, you support them? They're violent rebels who want to level the city, and you think they're alright?!"

Damien's eyes flashed, but he remained sitting. "Maybe I do think they're alright! These rumors of people going missing in the city- the Sheikah do nothing about it! The Yiga are only attacking the Sheikah for a reason, and if they attack a citizen, it's because they think the Sheikah are perfect and plans on maybe joining them. Those in Kakariko are untouched because they have little to no connection to those in the city. What if the Yiga know something that we don't? I don't trust Zelda. Don't you have any reason to doubt her, or are you blinded by your damn desire to be the hero?!"

Link clenched his fists, but kept his mouth shut. Midna shot a glance at Link, then at Damien, then stared at the campfire with an uncomfortable expression. Ghirahim did the same, awkwardly pouring water over the small flames. Linebeck looked from Link to Damien, then quietly said, "It's a bit hard to trust Zelda, since there's little evidence that the Yiga are in the wrong. It's a little suspicious, if you think about it." The withering glare that Link gave Linebeck made him flinch and shrink back. "J-just think about it! Do you have any reason to distrust Zelda? Think about i-it..."

The anger in Link's mind subsided as he recalled the slip of paper. He relaxed and swayed before sitting back down. "I... have a slip of paper. I'd need to take my shirt off and open up my chest cavity if I want to show it to you."

"Then do it," Linebeck muttered. "You're a robot. Go ahead."

Link fluidly tugged his tunic off and dropped it on the ground in front of him. His chest was very clearly robotic, there wasn't the smallest semblance of human features, just a flat torso. Link felt around for the hidden indention and tugged his chest cavity open. Everyone but stared at the pseudo organs and bones, formed from that strange, nameless material that the tracker, map, and bow now shared.

Shoving his self-respect away, Link reached on of his hands into his chest cavity, groping around the synthetic, stomach, heart, lungs, and ribcage, and found the slip of paper balled up between his right lung and his ribs. He tugged it out and uncrumpled it and handed it to Midna. "The axe Yiga dropped it after they attacked me at Hyrule Castle. I dunno if they wanted me to get it or not, but I found it anyways."

Ghirahim frowned at the message scrawled on the paper before handing it off to Damien. "Based off of the timing of the message and everything, the Yiga were probably saying that Zelda or the Sheikah are deceiving us." After a moment, he rubbed his face and suddenly snapped, "Why'd you keep it from us?"

Link blinked. "I-I thought it was a hoax, and I didn't want to scare you guys or anything. I was going to keep it to myself and take care of it myself." He leaned forward, pressing his face into his hands. "I'm really sorry about that, guys."

"It's fine," Linebeck muttered, tossing the note back at Link. "We all have secrets. We've all got reasons for keeping them. At least you told us about this. If something important comes up, though, maybe don't keep that a secret."

Link left the note on the ground and closed his chest cavity. "Do you think we should keep the note?"

Damien snatched it up. "We should probably get rid of it, just in case anyone else sees it." Before anyone could object, he tore it in half. Linebeck took the halves from his hand and burnt it to ash with his lighter.

Link sighed as he tugged his tunic back on. "No votes, then, huh?" He looked over at Midna and Ghirahim. "You guys fine with that?"

"It's a four-word message, it's easy to remember," Midna said. "Well, once you lot are done, let's head down into Rito Village."

Link frowned up at her. "Down? Aren't they bird people? Wouldn't they live higher up, like on the mountain?"

"They live in the ravine over there," Midna said, pointing to the tear in the rocky ground yards away from them. "I checked it out earlier. They have little huts connected by bridges and stuff, a good distance from the bottom of the ravine. There's a river down there. I think they've got a backup town higher up the mountain, just in case things down here get bad, or for warrior training and hunting."

Link got up after her, stretching. "That's cool. I thought they'd be pretty high up. Are there drafts or something down there? Some way for them to get a head start in flying, like a draft of wind?"

"I heard there are some weird wind drafts down there, so yeah, or maybe they set up a bunch of fans. They should be a bit more technologically advanced than the Zora."

"Well, of course we are," a voice said, drawing their attention to the pair of Rito walking towards the group. "Less water to screw things up, and, well, we have a bite more use for it," Revali said. He stopped a fair distance from the band of travelers, his haughty gaze lingering on Linebeck. A few paces behind him, Komali smiled shyly. "Well, then, we'll escort you lot to the rooms you'll be staying at, but you'll pay for it yourself."

"We can afford it, don't worry," Linebeck said. "We did win that tournament, after all, didn't you hear? Oh, right, you were there. Was there a second-place reward?"

Anger flared in the blue feathered Rito's eyes, and Komali nervously stepped in. "We welcome you with open arms, hero and companions," he quietly declared, smiling weakly at Link. "Y-you are the hero, right?"

Link nodded, a hand slipping into his belt pouch, fingers closing around the pendant of wisdom. "Yeah, I am."

"That's good. We've been having problems with-"

Revali scowled and loudly interrupted Komali. "We don't need your help. I hope you enjoy your little vacation while you're here."

Linebeck rolled his eyes and helped Ghirahim clean everything up. "They have problems," Link muttered to Midna.

"Oh, absolutely," Midna responded with an amused smirk.


	22. In Rito Village

Link curled up in his blanket, more thankful than ever that his body automatically heated himself up. He'd loaned his extra blanket to Ghirahim. Rito Village wasn't so cold in the daytime, he'd felt a chill when Revali and Komali showed them around the ravine, but nothing terrible. They spent the time after the tour getting used to the colder village and going back to points of interest.

There was a woodworking shop near the east end of the ravine, so Damien practically abandoned the group to continue his carpentry work. There were a number of different tech workshops that Linebeck took interest in, and even started a conversation with Revali about the kind of technology that resided in Rito Village. After the tour Linebeck stayed in their inn room to work on more of his projects with the new materials that Mipha had provided him with.

Komali showed them to the western half of the Village, where the more human-like Rito resided. "You're all separated?" Link had asked, bemused.

"Not really," Komali said. "It's mostly just split up by postal on the west, technology and weapons on the east. The homes are more intertwined, on the higher level of the Village," he'd explained, pointing upwards at the higher huts, either built against the walls of the ravines or suspended in the middle by wooden beams and bridges.

Most of the technology in the village were metal fans positioned higher up, and bright lanterns scattered around. Some beams that held up structures were metal, with conveyor belts of sorts on their undersides, carrying baskets and deliveries around the village.

Revali smoothly explained why they lived in a ravine- they usually didn't since they had a second village further up the mountain, but during half the year, there were regular avalanches that would make living in the mountain village dangerous. They would move up to that village once it was safe, and when the ravine water would rise. It made things difficult but work anyways. He explained that repairs were quick.

Were heaters a thing? Link pondered that question as he rolled over in the soft bed. The inn room had no walls, so cold air freely blew in. Midna and Ghirahim handled the cold well enough and fell asleep early in the night. Linebeck ended up sharing a bed with Damien near midnight. While the others fell asleep, Link lay awake, staring at the ceiling. He could remotely switch himself off at any time, but something kept him awake.

Link sat up, rubbing the back of his neck. He got off the bed, taking the blanket with him. He tossed it over Linebeck and Damien when he passed them and left the room. Link wondered just how cold it'd have to be for it to bother the Rito. They lived at the base of a mountain and had a second village halfway up that same snowy mountain.

A few night guards walked the bridges as Link wandered the village, wielding spears or bows. It was peaceful, despite the roaring river below him, and the creaking and slight swaying of the bridges. All of the lanterns were still on, but the light was dimmed. There were no glass windows, but curtains of tightly woven and colorful thread designs hung from hut halls. The colorful thread seemed to be a tradition in Rito Village- Link had seen it on their weapons, clothing, architecture, even tied on their instruments.

When passing the music hall that day, Damien had quietly explained to Link that both he and Linebeck could play an instrument. He didn't elaborate past that.

People looked a bit on edge, like the Zora had; just based off of how many Rito they walked by, they clearly weren't having kidnapping problems.

Perhaps it was a monster infestation? Most guards looked ready to fight at any moment. Revali had his impressive-looking bow stowed on his back during the entire tour. He'd given them directions to an archery range up the mountain. Linebeck managed to get Revali to begrudgingly agree to tutor him in archery. There was a tension between the two of them, so Link found himself curious about their history. He knew that they both often entered robots in tournaments only for Linebeck to come out on top every time.

* * *

No one here knows any great magic," Midna complained, leaning against the railing. Ghirahim said nothing, only glancing sidelong at her. "It's gonna be hard to practice with no one else with a magical proficiency."

"You've got me," Ghirahim sighed, pushing himself off the railing. "But yeah, it's gonna be difficult. We're making progress! I can help teach you, since I've unlocked more."

"We've unlocked the same amount of magic," Midna scoffed. "You're just jealous 'cuz I get the cool shadow-walking. Can't we both, in theory, teleport, though?"

"Yeah," Ghirahim sighed, now walking down the bridge. It was warmer in the day, but he still wore his crimson cloak over his torn clothes. Midna did the same, wearing her thin cloak. They spent the beginning of their morning looking for the others. Damien was quickly found in the music hall, Linebeck was apparently at the archery range being tutored by Revali, and Link was most likely wandering the village out of curiosity.

Midna peered around, spotting many other Rito, but not Link. "Who do you think he's bothering? He asked about the next pendant a whole lot yesterday. I'm worried that he'll bother the chieftains and get us kicked out. As important as getting the Master Sword seems to be, it's not a good idea to risk building a negative reputation."

"What, you want to track him down?" Ghirahim asked.

"Yeah, sure, we've got nothing else to do," Midna sighed. "Wouldn't hurt to walk around. It's pretty here," she said, gesturing to the colorful banners around the village. "Funny how well everyone seems to be doing despite Hyrule's past destruction."

Ghirahim shrugged. "I mean, only the wasteland and the junkyard seem to be having the most difficulty, and, even then, the city is doing well. Aside from general violence in the streets and the Yiga, things are good." He placed his hands on his hips as he walked, shaking his head. "I mean, we just need to get rid of the Yiga, right? Why does that require the Master Sword?"

"Who knows," murmured Midna, following after him, the two of them heading up the stairs to the second level of the village. "Zelda mentioned the possibility of them having some kind of beast under their control, but they just seem to be a rogue rebellion." She waved at a pair of passing Rito.

"The sword decides when it's needed, right? So if we find it and it won't let Link wield it, then we don't need it," the demon declared. "Simple. Want to spar? Or should we try and track down Linebeck? I get the feeling that Revali is gonna try and bully him while teaching him."

"How about we split up?" Midna offered. "You can look for Link, and I'll look for Linebeck. Damien is trustworthy, so we can leave him alone."

"Fine. I'll make sure he doesn't get into trouble. See you later today?"

"Let's meet up around noon. At the inn." They nodded to each other and set off in opposite directions.

* * *

Link stared down at the rushing river below the village. Did fish live there? It would be a good food source if that was a case. Wheat was common around this ravine; he'd taken a walk at the edge after waking up. He'd also had a quick talk with Linebeck when he'd woken up. The engineer was with fiddling with his bow, swapping its thunder magic crystal power source out with some other crystal.

"This is what powers most things in Hyrule?" Link asked, holding up the thunder magic crystal. It looked almost like a topaz in a clear cylinder, crackling with electricity. "How is it made?"

"The Gerudo usually manufacture them with some help from the Gorons. The Goron mine topaz and send them into Gerudo Desert, where Gerudo who are skilled with lightning magic will infuse the stone and set it into the cylinder. It's efficient but runs out fast. This crystal that Mipha gave me," he said, holding it up, a yellow ball encased in more black and brown unknown materials, "is similar to a power source I found in you, albeit much smaller. It seems to last for much longer, considering that you've been 'alive' for what might be the past 200 years, and is considerably more powerful."

"Who do you think made all of the ancient parts you've been collecting?"

"I'd be willing to guess that it was probably made by the Sheikah during one of the times where technology was especially advanced. Midna told you about that underground city yesterday, right? Yeah, you were there. The tech down there is supposed to be really advanced. I wouldn't mind sneaking down there at some point."

Link had nodded, finished getting ready for the day. "That sounds like it'd be fun. When we're done with this, maybe we can check it out."

Linebeck had shown him a fair bit of his newer projects before Link left. One of them looked like the beginnings of a spear, while the other three were more abstract looking, unfinished and with wires poking out from every opening.

On his walk through the village, Link took note of any technology he saw. The conveyor belts looked simple enough. There were a few metal doors that led into closed-off larger buildings. He'd asked a passing Rito about it; they'd told him that they were blacksmiths or labs where new technology was being tested.

The lanterns looked simple enough, set on a timer so that they would automatically dim or brighten at certain times. Each home had ovens and stoves and usual cookware as well as more electric lights. All of their weapons looked to be metal and wood, so they didn't have any technology integrated into their weapons.

It was still more than he saw in everyday life in Kakariko. Link spotted and had to even hop over what seemed to be a number of small robots, about the size of a cat, traveling around the village. They were simply designed, just little rectangular boxes rolling around on wheels. He'd met a Rito engineer by the name of Teba, who'd explained to him that their purpose was to check the stability of the walkways.. Link personally though that they were cute.

There were no maps of the village for Link to find. He'd asked residents and checked in the few shops, finding no maps for sale, instead taking note of arrows and foodstuffs. They had countless arrows, not counting the selection of bomb and elemental arrows. They seemed more equipped for a fight than Zora's Domain had been. The Zora had their spears and armor and constant guard patrols, but they didn't have shops dedicated to weaponry like the Rito.

He hopped up the last few stairs to the upper level of the village, looking for Komali's father. Unlike with Zora's Domain, his mind was set on finding a problem to solve in order to get the next pedant. He walked past a few buildings, intending to go to the northern chieftain, the postal Rito chieftain. He considered contacting Komali, but Link decided not to bother the shy boy.

Link entered a more musically inclined part of the village, glancing to the side to see Rito playing and practicing instruments. He could hear string instruments, wind instruments, and everything in between while he walked. There were various melodies and scales and tempos being played, but it all sounded good together. Despite having rarely heard any music since waking up, but Link was able to recognize each individual instrument, his mind automatically picking them out and identifying them

Passing by a few of the last huts, he spotted Damien peering at some sheet music with an instrument in his lap. Link lingered where he was for a moment, considering going to talk with him, but decided against it. From the looks of it, Damien was focused on his task. He brought his instrument to his mouth, and Link immediately recognized it as a clarinet.

Medli and a Rito who bore resemblance to perhaps a parrot, with a darker and more vertically broad beak, were in the last hut, playing a tune together.

Much to Link's disappointment, Komali was in the chieftain's hut, clearly speaking with his father. The young Rito looked nervous, wringing his hands, and his father, standing with his hands clasped behind him, seemed to be listening intently, occasionally nodding his head.

Ghirahim got Link's attention by placing a hand on his shoulder. "What are you doing?" he asked, sounding rather accusatory. "Midna had me come and find you before you cause problems for everyone here."

Link scowled. "What, you two don't trust me?"

"We don't want you sticking your nose in places where it doesn't belong, prying into people's private lives in order to validate your need to be a hero."

"I am the hero," Link muttered. "Besides, I was going to wait until Komali left before talking with the chieftain."

"Why not talk to Kaneli?" Ghirahim countered, referring to the other cheiftain, a friendly old Rito who apparently spent his days allowing meetings with citizens who had questions. "He's probably more willing to listen to you."

"I considered it," Link admitted. "But he's apparently not as involved in matters outside the village, while Komali's father handles foreign affairs. Besides, I'd feel less comfortable with bothering Kaneli than taking my questions to Komali's father. Besides, if this backfires, then I can go and ask Komali himself."

Ghirahim sighed. "You don't want to bother the old man who spends his days answering questions, but you'll gladly ask some poor anxious boy stuff you'd originally ask his father? Either way, I'm sticking with you." He smiled smugly at Link, who barely gave him a second glance before walking to the bridge.

The pair of them waited until Komali was clearly finished talking with his father. The young Rito spotted them outside and opted to stay in his father's hut while the robot and the demon strode in, practically side-by-side. Link offered a smile to Komali, but Ghirahim ignored the boy completely. The chieftain's eyes were steely, but not unwelcoming. "Hello, do the two of you need anything? You're esteemed guests, as the possible saviors of Hyrule."

Link was painfully aware of Ghirahim standing just behind him, arms crossed and standing like he was ready to fight at any minute. He hoped it wouldn't make the Rito chieftain uncomfortable while Link talked. "Yes, I have a few questions. I know we haven't been here very long, so I apologize in advance if I accidentally step over a line."

The chieftain only nodded; his expression inscrutable. Link hesitated, waiting for a response, and continued on. "When Komali and Revali were showing us around the village, we noticed that Komali would start to mention something, but Revali would cut him off. I'm here with my friends on a quest to attain the Master Sword, and we'll need the three Pendants of Virtue. We already have wisdom, and we heard that you may have courage, but I'm aware you wouldn't just hand it to us. I apologize for prying, but I'm curious if your people are in any danger that I can try and fix."

The chieftain regarded him, then sighed. "Us Rito are a proud people, so it makes sense that Revali would try and cover up our current situation. I'll be honest with you, since the Queen trusts you, and since you now have a reputation for helping the Zora. Right now, we are in the summer years, as you know. It may seem a bit cool here for you, but, to us Rito, it is hot. Normally, we would be living in our mountain village- but that is not an option."

"We normally live in the mountain village in the summer and spring years and live down here in the winter and fall years," Komali quickly explained.

His father nodded. "Indeed. Unfortunately, these past few weeks, there have been an oddly frequent number of avalanches, making nearing the village dangerous, despite our flying ability. We can't near the village without being in danger. We're unsure what's causing it. Revali and a group of warriors camped out near the top of the mountain and found that the avalanches are caused by strange tremors constrained to the mountain."

"Could it be some natural phenomenon?"

"No, then we would feel those tremors as well. We're in no real danger, but our mountain village is where most training for both postal and warrior Rito takes place, and it's safer from monsters. We rely a good bit on that village. We've had our sharp-eyed Rito explore the mountain, looking for anything out of the norm on the mountain, but we've been unable to find anything."

"We could check out the mountain," Link offered. "As a robot, my eyesight and other senses are especially heightened, and I would be able to last out there for as long as I need. I at least want to try and help, if you'll allow me to."

The chieftain crossed his arms. Komali nervously shifted his weight. Link heard Ghirahim let out a breath he had been holding as the chieftain finally nodded. "You would have to run it by both Kaneli and Revali, but you have my permission. Revali is in charge of the parties who look for the source, and he reports to Kaneli. If you can help us solve this, then I would consider giving you the Pendant of courage. It's a treasure to the Rito, so you are right in saying that we wouldn't just give it to you."

"Where's Revali?"

"He should be at our archery range; you'll find it by following the marked path. That path starts at the east end of the ravine."

* * *

The path was easy to find, and the cold was Midna's biggest problem as she made her way to the archery range. Her iron-toed boots were warm enough, but her pants and shirt did nothing to defend against the chill as Midna advanced down the gravel path. She wasn't even in the snow yet. The archery range was supposed to be a bit further up the base of the mountain. Her thin cloak was going to do nothing to warm her up.

Midna cursed herself for not getting any kind of Rito-made clothing. They were specially made to help a traveler survive in the mountains, and Midna decided they weren't needed because she underestimated just how cold it would be. She was around a mile down the path now, going up a slight hill as snow slightly piled up on the side of the path.

So used to either silence or the occasional call of a bird, Midna flinched and reached for her spear when someone called out to her. She held it out, ready for a fight, when it occurred to her that the person she was pointing the spear at was not hostile. The man stumbled back, holding his hands up. "Wait! Wait, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, don't hurt me!"

Midna blinked, then fumbled to stow her spear away. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you surprised me." She paused, a little surprised to see a little bird on the man's shoulder. "Are you going to the archery range?"

The guy nodded. He looked fairly pale, with green eyes and black hair. Midna unconsciously noted that he looked rather similar to Link. He was much more prepared for cold weather, dressed in a purple cloak and wearing a long, black and blue striped scarf. She spotted a quiver clipped to the back of his belt, and a bow on his back. "Well, then, nice to meet you," Midna murmured. She held out a hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Midna."

The guy blinked, then walked over and shook her hand. "Hi, I'm Ravio. I've heard of you. We're you part of the team who won the last robot tournament?"

Midna nodded. "Yeah. People know about that?" She rubbed her hands together when they finished shaking hands. "Damn. But, yeah. We're traveling around Hyrule now."

"You lot are a bit famous since word is getting out that Zelda's put you on a quest of sorts. That the robot you're with might be a hero! I'd like to meet him, personally. I'm not the bravest of people, and just being in the presence of someone like that, I'd hope that their courage and general good traits rub off on me."

"You'll probably get a chance to meet him," Midna offered. "But I don't know where he is. We can go to the archery range together, though, and one of my friends should be there. You're going to practice, right? I can see your bow and quiver."

"Oh, yeah." The little bird let out a short chirp. "We're going to practice." Ravio held out his hand, and the bird fluttered down into his palm. "This is Sheerow, by the way. Please don't aim for him, he's my friend." Ravio chuckled at his own little joke.

The pair of them made comments about Sheerow being cute and were on their way down to the archery range. Ravio was apparently a bit of a traveling merchant, and one that Midna recalled hearing about. Once the archery range came into view, Ravio said, "I heard that Revali, the best archer in Rito Village is tutoring someone down here."

Midna shrugged. "Yeah, he's tutoring my friend. They're both assholes, though, so don't bother with them."

"Damn. Well, why are you heading down? From the looks of your skill with that spear, you don't seem like the type to get into archery."

"I'm checking on my friend. He's not good with other people despite how he might act, and I just want to make sure he stays out of trouble, really."

"Does he get into trouble a lot?"

"He's good at aggravating people, and, well, he has aphenphosmphobia, so if it gets physical then he's screwed. Then again, he's good at figuring out if he needs to shut up."

Ravio chuckled, but there was an underlying nervousness.

The archery range was built against a cliff, with three different levels made out of wood and metal. The same electric lanterns used in the village were set up to illuminate the range. Targets were set up against the cliffside at varying distances and heights. Midna and Ravio strode up the long staircase, a heated argument coming into earshot. Midna only sighed, unsurprised as she recognized Linebeck and Revali's voices.

It was a childish argument, going on and on about how they were better than each other at engineerings. Midna was mildly shocked by the fact that a third person was present. Ashei was silently shoot arrows at a distant target, standing only a few feet from Linebeck and Revali. It was if the argument so close to her wasn't even happening. Midna was silently impressed by the woman's stoic calmness.

Ravio awkwardly stared at the argument and quietly made his way over to one of the farther targets. Midna crossed her arms and walked over to Linebeck and Revali. Based off of the target they were standing across from, with a few arrows in the out rings with the rest in the floor, Linebeck was making... progress. However, there were only a handful of arrows, so it was clear that the archery tutoring had been quickly derailed.

"Can you just shut your damned beak and teach me how to aim?" Based off of the tired and terse tone that Linebeck's words took, they hadn't gotten much of anything done.

Revali scowled haughtily. "Quit criticizing my skills, then. I'm the best in Rito Village, so you have no right to even try. The fact that I'm even bothering to teach you should be an honor." His own impressive bow was stowed on his back.

"I've stopped! You decided to fail as a tutor the moment I mentioned that I built this bow on my own. I'm a better engineer than you, so shut up, rip out the stick that's been shoved in your ass, and teach me how to properly use a damned bow."

Rage washed over Revali's face, and he opened his mouth to shoot back when Midna loudly cleared her throat. If the argument continued, then Linebeck would only continue to give Revali more and more reasons to throttle him. "I can see you two have decided to be children instead of well-educated adults."

Linebeck scoffed. "Revali decided to forget his age once I brought up my bow."

"You were being a prick and going on about how you made it in barely a few days. I pick up on boasting very quickly."

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't aware that I was hurting your poor, poor ego."

"You bastard-"

"Okay, OKAY!" Midna roared, even managing to get Ashei's attention. "You two go as well together as oil and water, holy Hylia. I knew this would turn out this way." She turned to Linebeck. "Curb your ego, okay? You've gotten real good at doing that recently, and as far as Link is concerned, you're nothing but a self-hating recluse. You're a fantastic engineer, but you don't need to be an ass about it." She then turned to Revali. "You too. Your boasting is supported by your actions, so prove it by actually teaching the person you're meant to. You're a good engineer, but not nearly as good as Linebeck. Suck it up. You're still the best marksman in all the land."

There was a moment of silence, and the two of them nearly started shouting at each other again, but Midna ripped her spear out and, after a few minutes, managed to force them into actually practicing archery. Linebeck's jaw was set as Revali begrudgingly gave him instruction, but his aim quickly improved. Having a robotic arm that could lock in place if he needed certainly gave Linebeck an edge. Midna would've been willing to bet that Bellum was giving him some help with it, too.

Despite the tension, things had very much calmed down between them. Ravio kept glancing at Linebeck while he practiced, and Midna couldn't tell if it was out of curiosity or admiration or something else. He seemed nice. Midna could've sworn that Ravio's hood had a pair of fabric rabbit ears sown onto it. Sheerow stayed on his shoulder as Ravio practiced his archery. It didn't seem like he needed much practice, based off of his near-impeccable aim.

Midna tried to hide her shivering as she stuck around. Linebeck managed to focus on practicing and taking Revali's advice, slightly tilting his bow's angle and changing the way he held the arrow in place. Revali still seemed like he very much wanted to hire a hitman to kill Linebeck, but he seemed a bit calmer as well.

Ashei left after a few minutes, leaving without a word. No one else showed up for a while, until, much to both Midna and Linebeck's surprise, Ghirahim and Link approached them. Link could regulate his body temperature, and Ghirahim had clearly bought some warmer Rito clothing, like new gloves and a jacket that he wore under his crimson cloak.

"What are you guys doing here?" Linebeck asked, lowering his bow. "Is Link causing problems?"

"Just about," Ghirahim sighed. He glanced at Midna. "You look cold." Midna scowled and flipped him off, her temper at its limit. "Anyways. We need to talk to the Rito's golden boy for a bit," he drawled, pointing lazily at Revali.

The Rito sighed. "What do you need?" Beside him, Linebeck deactivated his bow and started walking away to collect his arrows. "It had better be either a request for a demonstration of my skills or something truly important."

"We need to ask about the avalanches that are keeping you lot from getting to your mountain village."

"How did you-"

"Komali's father told us about the situation," Link said. "He said that we can help you with it. As a robot with heightened senses, I might be able to find something you guys haven't noticed."

Revali scowled, snatching up the arrows that Linebeck held out to him. "What, you need my permission? I don't see why some Hylian-looking robot would be the one to solve the Rito's problems. I'm the best warrior in the Rito. You're not much better than I am." He thrust the arrows into his quiver, sparing a withering glare at Linebeck. The man only rolled his eyes. "If you were to go along with this, you would only get things done with me on your side. Sure, you're a robot, but I'm sure my eyesight is much better than yours. I can spot a peppered moth in a birch forest yards away."

"I bet I could do the same," Link retorted. "All we need is your permission, you may come with us if you'd like. I need to do this so that I can collect the Pendants of virtue in order to get the Master Sword."

The Rito scoffed, crossing his arms. "Of course, of course. Fantastic. You're the savior of the world." He scowled, peering around the archery range for a few moments. Link frowned and opened his mouth to ask a question, but Revali quickly cut him off. "You can help us with this, but I'll go with you. If you're going to do this, you'll do it under my supervision. If you want to go out and explore the mountain, you'll need my permission and presence. Agreed?"

Link huffed. Revali tilted his head to the side, smiling thinly. Ghirahim shot Link an irritated look, communicating his own unwillingness to work with Revali. Midna simply looked tired, shaking her head, and Linebeck was busy picking up his arrows, quietly talking with Bellum. "Fine," Link snapped. He sighed, looking down at his feet to avoid seeing his friends' glares aimed at him. "I agree. Thanks... thanks for the offer."

* * *

Once they returned to the inn, the group cornered Link and berated him for being a push over. "You didn't even bother with negotiation," Midna hissed. "Nothing inspires hope quite like a hero that does and accepts everything he's told."

"You've done nothing but bend down and let everyone do what they want with you," Ghirahim snapped. "You've never really effectively tried to assert anything for yourself, dammit. You're doing everything Zelda tells you to, and you let people do what they want."

"I'm a robot, a tool," Link retorted. "and I'm the hero. I'm supposed to serve people and protect them. I'm supposed to do what people of authority tell me to do."

"Congratulations, you're a dumbass," Linebeck muttered. "People are going to manipulate and use you to do bad things. If you blindly do what people tell you to, you're not going to be much of a hero. At least put effort into checking if the person talking to you wants to use you for good. You're just being stupid by not standing up for yourself."

"Nothing wrong with wanting to do the right thing," Midna added, "But the way you're doing it is making you so vulnerable to manipulation and being seen as little more than some tool. Hell, if we hadn't stepped in so often, I bet Zelda would've just taken you on as her own and made you her personal servant or something."

Link pressed his back against the wall, crossing his arms. He averted his gaze, staring out the nearest window. He let out a long sigh, and the others paused, waiting for him to speak. After nearly a minute, Link said, "I'll work on it. I suppose I'm too eager to be a hero."

"You _suppose_?"

Link glared at Ghirahim. "I said I'll work on it, give me some credit. I think we should still help the Rito, obviously. Should we start exploring the mountain tomorrow? We could probably ditch Revali if we wanted."

Linebeck looked up from his current project. "Fantastic idea!" He picked something up off the table and tossed it at Link. "Anyways, here's this. Check it out, it's a small thing I've been working on. It's not finished but tell me what you think."

Link caught the little item, and it was obvious that the first topic had been halted. Midna turned and picked up a book of hers, and Ghirahim immediately left. Link sat down on his bed, turning the little object in his hands. It was about the same size as the map tablet that was connected to his tracker, just in the shape of a circle. "What's this supposed to be? It looks like some kind of... plate. What blueprints are you using, if you're using any at all?"

"Some of the stolen ones," Linebeck sighed, briefly holding it up. Link barely got a chance to see any pictures or writing.

"Do you think that Zelda knows that we stole those?" Midna asked, frowning.

"Don't care," Linebeck airily responded. "Not my problem. They weren't locked up well enough." He held out a hand and gestured for Link to return the item. "I might have it finished soon, maybe in time for when we might find the problem."

"We'll go out tomorrow, then?"

"Sure."

* * *

The next few days were spent exploring the mountain. They all bought Rito clothing to keep them warm and made sure to bring along a good amount of food and supplies. They left late in the morning and returned late at night. Link and the others met up with Revali, and he led them around the snowy, freezing mountains, where they trudged through the cold, fighting off wolves and moblins. Revali hunted if they had no more food, and Linebeck was crucial to lighting a campfire if Revali had no fire arrows.

Link navigated the snow with ease along with Revali, but the Rito seemed to have little else more than disdain for him. Linebeck had the most trouble with the terrain, only compounded by the fact that no one was able to properly help him. He resigned to calling himself the rear guard, and had his bow out and ready at all times. Even if he never contributed to fights.

Ghirahim didn't seem very bothered by the cold, and Midna did a good job of stifling her shivering. Linebeck resorted to muttering his complains to Bellum, who ended up talking with Link in order to avoid him. There never seemed to be much hate towards the engineer, however.

They didn't find much aside from strange caves or tunnels. Linebeck would wait outside while, each time, a different part of the group opted to stay with him.

There was no progress for the first few days. Before leaving each morning, Linebeck hung back a few minutes to spend a bit extra time with Damien before returning to the group. He was the only one of the four of them with someone waiting for him, Link quietly realized during the first monster attack that first day. He was an outcast within the group.

On the fifth day of exploration, they stopped for lunch, and Revali walked off to poke around the surrounding area. Link, Ghirahim, Linebeck, and Midna all huddled around a small campfire, raw meat cooking as they waited. They all shivered, despite their Rito-made cloaks, gloves, and hoods. After a few minutes, Ghirahim sighed heavily and shuffled back to take inventory. They had bundles of arrows, along with Midna and Link's weapons. Linebeck kept his bow clipped to his belt.

Within the bag that Ghirahim was looking through was Linebeck's newest project- the completed version of the circular object he'd shown to Link. It was a shield of sorts, able to fold out from a compact shape into its shield form with a simple trigger squeeze. Just like Linebeck's bow. They tested it out a few times in battle, and it proved itself to be incredibly effective. They didn't dispose of Damien's wooden shield, however; Linebeck returned it to the carpenter, who thanked them for using it for so long.

Ghirahim tossed the bag closer to the group and shuffled back over to them. "So," he started. "Did you guys notice anything on the way here? Nothing new, if you ask me."

"I didn't notice much," Midna admitted. "Even checking out some caves via shadow magic didn't reveal much."

"I didn't see anything interesting, either," Link sighed. "We must've checked out at least a fifth of the mountain by now, right?"

Linebeck shrugged, taking the map tablet from their shared bag. He hadn't used it since they needed to track the Lizalfos. "Maybe. This is a big mountain, and the map only covers about two miles around Link. Let me see..." He turned on the tablet and peered at it, then at Link. The turned it around, showing the screen to the group. The blinking yellow dot in the middle was most likely the location of the tracker. The topography of the mountains around them was shown, and they could see the edge of the ravine in the south.

Midna scowled. "We're not even that far out? Damn."

Linebeck flipped the tablet around to peer at it. "We went further the first few days. Revali said that the first exploration parties started at the far edge of the mountain. We did the same, checking out the north eastern corner, and worked our way closer to the village. And found nothing." He tossed the tablet back into the bag and rubbed his face. "This mountain is boring as hell. I thought we might run into a chance to find some kind of treasure of whatever, but of course this frozen hell has nothing interesting to offer."

"It's a fun little expedition," Link chirped.

"We've made no progress," Linebeck whined. "Feels like it's been a waste of a week. Where are we stopping after we're done with this bird coop?"

"Lurelin is the next stop," said Ghirahim, peering at the cooking meat. "Do you think that's done?"

Link glanced at it. "I doubt it. Let's give it a few minutes." He rubbed his hands together and looked back over at Linebeck. "You don't seem too bothered by the cold."

Linebeck scowled and Mida let out a short laugh. "He's a good actor, remember? He is wearing about four layers now, though." She tilted her head to the side. "You are being a bit less whiny than usual."

"Shut it," Linebeck snapped. "I don't see why I need to be here. I can't fight like the rest of you."

"You can use a bow," Ghirahim offered.

"So can Revali. I'd personally prefer staying back at the village unless you need me."

Ghirahim clear a small area in front of his of snow, revealing the cold soil. He picked at the dirt. "You'd rather spend time with your boyfriend than help save the world, huh?"

"Don't give me shit for that," Linebeck groaned. "Any normal person would prefer that. Once we get to Lurelin, I'm gonna ignore you lot until we leave to the next village. I almost died in that last dungeon, so I'm going to make the best of my time."

"Providing that you don't die in the process of trying to fix this."

Linebeck threw a handful of snow at Midna. "You'll be lucky if I bother coming with you guys tomorrow."

Once the meat was done cooking, they cut it up and divided it among the group. The pieces were small, and Link ended up handing his off to Ghirahim. They finished eating and kept the campfire going, now waiting for Revali to return. Link played around with the snow at his feet as he waited, looking around for the Rito. He stood up and squinted around. "Hey. What if we ditched him, like I said?"

Linebeck and Ghirahim looked on board, and Midna rubbed her face. "Can we get away with that? Revali's eyesight is fantastic, and we'd leave footprints."

"We've got a snowstorm on its way," Link said, pointing up at the gray sky. "It'll cover up our tracks."

"Do you think we might get in some real trouble?" Ghirahim asked, speaking slowly. "I'd hate to get arrested or something."

"It's not that hard to sneak out of a standard jail," Linebeck said, earning himself some concerned looks. "But yeah, we might get into trouble, but this might be worth it."

Midna groaned. "Sure. Lead the way, Link."

The snowstorm set in mere minutes after they left the campfire. Ghirahim had their equipment slung over his shoulder, trusted to keep track of it. The storm obscured their vision to the point that only Link was able to see very far in the snow. They made a chain of sorts, holding onto each other, Linebeck holding out an extra arrow for Midna to hold rather than his hand.

Link's eyes adjusted quickly, and he had Ghirahim give him the map tablet to help navigate the mountain. He led them near cliffsides, hoping for cover, and spotted a straight, thin and narrow opening marked on the map. Link squinted at it. It was probably a small ravine. It was most likely a stupid idea to lead the half-blind party over to a small ravine, but, at the same time, Revali had never mentioned that. A lead, perhaps.

"There's a small ravine near here-" His friends immediately screamed at him for being an idiot. "IT MIGHT BE SOMETHING IMPORTANT," Link roared back at them.

The argument for and against checking out the ravine dissolved into the four of them trying to shout at each other above the wind until Link gave up and started tugging them over to it. It was hard to see very far, but Link could see dim shapes in the distance. Even if snow would fly into his face, it didn't bother him or make the walk difficult.

"We're close to it," he shouted back. The most he got in terms of a response was Ghirahim squeezing his had so hard that Link was worried that he would bend the metal in his hand. They found the edge of the ravine quickly enough, and, much to Link's surprise, found a staircase of sorts cut from the stone. He carefully led his friends down the path, cautioning them as they managed to get out the snowstorm.

Ghirahim scowled, squinting around the narrow ravine. "There's nothing down here. At least we're out of the damn storm."

The ravine wasn't very deep, but deep enough to protect them from the storm. If Revali found them, they could plead that they were looking for shelter. Link looked around, initially finding nothing. Midna frowned, brushing snow off of her shoulders. Linebeck rubbed at his eyes, curling his lip. "Anything interesting? Revali didn't mention this place, strange since we we're so close to it."

Link shuffled away from the group and inspected the wall of the ravine. "Something seems weird." He pressed against the stone and ran his hand along it. A small crack intrigued him, and he pressed. There was a loud clicking sound, and a doorway opened up next to him.

Midna blinked at the new doorway. "...Holy shit." She rubbed her temples, eyes wide. "Holy Hylia, Din, Farore, Nayru, and pretty much every other deity. I suppose this is a lead, then?"

Link nodded slowly. "...Let's go, then." He smiled brightly. "Sorry that you don't get more chances to talk with Damien or anything before this."

"Bastard," Linebeck spat, but he was the first one to walk through the doorway.


	23. The Abandoned Music Hall

The hallway they walked down felt as long as the one leading into the Lizalfos prison, but it clearly wasn't. Linebeck, first down the hall, paused before it ended and allowed the others to pass him. The room was nondescript, lit by a number of lanterns. Link peered around, and Ghirahim dropped the equipment bag on the ground. Everyone collected their weapons and support items in case danger was encountered.

It was still cold, so the warm Rito garment stayed on. Once ready to continue, Ghirahim took the bag back. "Do you think this'll be like that weird prison near Zora's Domain?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Midna mused. "Who knows." She looked around the room, leaning her spear against her shoulder. "I'm not seeing any doors, but what about that over there?" she asked, pointing at a slightly risen circular platform.

Link stared at it and walked over. The moment that both of his feet were on it, light shined from underneath it, and Link stumbled as the platform began to slowly rise up. The others sprinted over to join him, and they huddled in the middle as it slowly rose up to the ceiling of the room, which opened up to allow the platform through.

"Th-this doesn't seem to be any kinda of technology," Linebeck whispered, searching around the room, walking around the platform before Ghirahim tugged him away from the edge. "It's probably all magic," he muttered, staring around. "If we keep going up like this, I'd assume we might end up in the peak of a mountain."

"We might find the source of the quakes that cause the avalanches," Link exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He looked up at their possible destination, only finding darkness. "We're rising pretty quickly, don't you think?"

"That's good," Ghirahim muttered, rubbing his shoulders in an attempt to warm himself up. "The suspense is killing me." He drew his saber and distanced himself from the group in order to shadow box.

"I wonder why the Rito never found this," Link mused. "Do you think the snowstorm revealed it? It was on the map, so it's probably not new."

"The storm might've disrupted the snow that was covering it," Midna said. "It seemed like a small opening when we walked down. Or, maybe, the Rito do know about it, but they didn't find the doorway. Either way, we have no backup, so we'll need to be careful."

"Obviously," drawled Linebeck. "Link, test out that shield."

"How?"

Linebeck waved his hand. "I dunno. Spar with Ghirahim or something. Just test out the shield at some point." Glanced sidelong at Midna. "My next project might interest you," he told her. "Providing I get out of this alive."

"We'll protect you like last time," Midna murmured. "How's your shoulder, anyways? You seem fine enough when practicing your archery."

"It fully healed soon after we got to the village," he said. "I'm fine."

Link ran a hand through his hair and got to his feet. "At least you can maybe protect yourself."

"I had a knife last time; I could protect myself just fine."

Ghirahim grimaced. "You almost died. We're all lucky that I unlocked more of my magic then. Speaking of," Ghirahim snapped his fingers, a trio of knives appearing in the air. He pointed a finger at Link. "Shield up. Let's start with this."

Link nodded and held up the shield, fingering the trigger on the grip. Once he flicked it, four limbs of sort folded out from the circular center, connecting on both sides of the middle, and the same blue energy from his sword filled in the space between the limbs and the center of the shield. It was a swift movement, happening in practically under a second. Ghirahim snapped his fingers once the shield was ready, and Link brought it up to defect the knives. They slammed into the shield and disappeared. "It works!" Link beamed, holding up the shield.

Ghirahim and Link sparred while the platform slowly rose and managed to get in a few rounds before the platform abruptly stopped. The lights from underneath them dimmed until they were unable to see at all, fumbling in the darkness. "We're all still here? Right?" Link asked.

They each called out, letting the others know they were there. "Do we have a lantern?" Midna asked.

Linebeck flicked his lighter on, doing little to illuminate their surroundings but managing to pinpoint his own location. "I stole a few fire arrows from Revali. They give off a bit of light. Ghirahim, they should be in the bag."

Ghirahim mumbled something to himself and withdrew a bundle of glowing fire arrows. They were bright enough to shed an orange glow on Ghirahim's face and torso. He handed one to everyone. "Is this platform touching the sides of this shaft?" He asked, slowly walking towards the edge. They were closed in, with no opening back down.

"...Now what?" Linebeck asked, doing his best to mask the quiver in his voice. "I-is there another doorway or something?"

"We're looking," Link said, joining Ghirhaim in his survey of the platform's edge. "There's no way down, so there might be another doorway, like how we got here." Link hand his hand along the wall as he walked. It was smooth and cold, like the doorway in the ravine. "Have you guys found anything interesting?"

"There are some markings over here," Midna called out. The others clambered over to her, peering at white shapes carved into the otherwise smooth stone, five horizontal lines and four dots in varying spots.

"That's music," Linebeck explained, pointing to the dots. "Four notes." He withdrew his hand and the others glanced at him. "...Maybe we've got to place some kind of music? The first note is a concert G..."

"Wonderful, I'll go grab the instrument I definitely brought, then," Midna snapped, her voice scathing. "Even if this is the answer, we're dead in the water."

Linebeck's face went red and he opened his mouth to respond, but slowly closed it, his eyes darting around, as if trying to find something other than Midna to look at. "I... I don't want to die here, o-okay? We don't h-have any ideas?"

Ghirahim stepped back from the group, his lips forming a thin line. He didn't say anything. The short-lived anger fizzed out of Midna's eyes and she sighed, letting her arms fall to her side. Linebeck shifted his weight, starting to shake. Link awkwardly cleared his throat. "I'm a robot, we know this. Do you think it's possible for me to reproduce sounds I've heard, Linebeck?"

Linebeck blinked. "N-no. I ran a bunch of tests when I f-first found and repaired you, and the only sounds you're a-able to produce are things like your voice." Link quietly cursed under his breath, earning a few surprised looks from the others. Linebeck stumbled back over to the writing on the wall, holding his arrow up to it. "It doesn't specify instrument."

"So?" snapped Ghirahim.

Linebeck hesitated, then asked Ghirahim, "Can't you whistle?"

There was a stunned silence that lasted for a few moments before Ghirahim muttered, "I don't know how to whistle specific notes."

"I bet I can help you with that," Link chirped. "I was able to tell what notes were played when I passed people playing instruments. In Rito village. I could probably help you figure out what notes you're whistling."

Ghirahim opposed the idea at first, but, within a minute, he and Link were huddled near the music while Linebeck and Midna lingered a few feet away. Link made Ghirahim whistle a few notes, and they were soon screwing around, working less with a set procedure and more acting under trial and error. It took under five minutes, though, and once Ghirahim finished whistling the four-note sequence, the platform trembled under their feet. The measure of notes glowed for a moment, and a doorway slid upwards.

"Fantastic, my idea worked!" Linebeck exclaimed, hanging back until everyone else had walked through. It was yet another hallway, but much shorter than the one before. A cold breeze blew in their faces as they walked, but the light at the end was too dim for it to lead outside. "Of course we're only going deeper down this rabbit hole," Linebeck muttered under his breath, now more angry than scared.

"Hang on," Link murmured, holding out an arm. His companions halted. "Do you guys hear that?"

They all went dead silent, even going as far as to hold their breath. There was, at first, nothing but the sound of howling wind. Then, faintly, the sound of wooden chimes. Many, many wooden chimes, filling the silence. Link glanced back at the others and cautiously drew his sword. He slowly advanced further down the hall, and the four them froze at the end. The hall opened up to an enormous room, with numerous other doorways and ledges. Wooden chimes hung from the underside of the ledges, and various broken and rotten instruments lay in the room. Wind rushed in through circular openings in the mossy cobble walls, and dim light emanated from various paper lanterns.

The chimes clacked against each other once again, slowly building into a cacophony of wooden sounds as the wind agitated more and more formerly stationary chimes. "Loud," Midna grumbled, clapping her hands over her ears. Link grimaced at the noise, and silently thanked Hylia when it all quieted down. Silence reined once again, but they froze when the sound of three notes echoed through the room.

"What was that?" Ghirahim asked. "Sounded... like a string instrument."

"That was a biwa," Link murmured, peering around. He paused as three more biwa notes echoed out. "I don't think any of these broken instruments can play notes like that. I doubt we're alone."

Without waiting for the others, Link hopped out of the doorway and down onto the ledge just below. He walked over to the edge and peered down. This was the lowest ledge of five. A chill ran down his spine as he stared down into the yawning void below him. Linebeck walked up by Link but let out a strangled yelp and stumbled away from the edge.

"There's nothing down there," Link murmured. "Falling would mean death."

More biwa notes, then the chimes clattered again. Link grimaced. "Let's check out one of these other doorways," Midna shouted over the noise. She pointed to the nearest one on their level and starting jogging over. The others followed suit, and despite his self-regulating temperature, Link appreciated the extra heat that entered his body.

They clambered up and into the hall, pushing and kicking aside the broken instruments. "This is like an old music hall- Didn't either Komali or Revali mention an old music hall?"

"Yeah, they did," Ghirahim responded, staring at Link. "They said that it was lost to time and that no one really knew where it was. Holy shit."

They clambered into the hall, finding it to be short and leading to an old wood door. Midna pushed it open, and a freezing breeze blew out at them. Ghirahim growled and gathered his cloak around him as he walked into the room. "Damn mountain. I hate it there. Can't wait for Goron City and Gerudo Town."

Link joined the others in the freezing room, finding it to be filled with rusty chairs and stands, all shoved into a corner with more and more broken instruments. Dusty boards leaned against the walls. The group wandering around the cold room for a few moments, and decided it was pointless. They emerged back out into the main room, greeted with the noise of the wooden chimes, followed swiftly by more biwa notes.

Link let out a slow breath. "Are we going to Gerudo Town?"

Midna scowled. "Yeah, _that's_ the most important question right now."

A quick glare was exchanged between them, and Linebeck groaned. "No need to fight. We might go to Gerudo Town, we might not. Depends on what we'll do after we get the last pendant."

Link hesitated, then asked, "Don't you have Gerudo ancestors?" The moment he shut his mouth, Midna and Ghirahim adopted expressions of a hare in the jaws of a wolf. Linebeck's exasperated glare signified that he was the wolf. "Did I say something wrong...?"

"I told you lot to drop that theory," Linebeck snapped. "We have no kind of evidence, and it's stupid."

Link frowned. "I thought that you knew that they mentioned that to me?"

"Yeah, but I thought you took it with a grain of salt."

"This isn't important!" Link sighed, peering around. Despite his disengagement from the conversation, it continued behind him.

"It's a stupid theory," Linebeck shouted, his irritation only getting worse.

"Yeah, it's just a theory based on how you look-"

"Shitty evidence, if you ask me. Who gives a shit if I'm above average height for a Hylian- so are you lot! Damien's Hylian and he's a bit above average!" There was a pause, and Midna and Ghirahim seemed to begin to respond, but Linebeck interrupted them with, "Now that I think about it, he offered to come with us today."

"Do you think he followed us?" Link asked, whipping around.

"No, I said that he'd be safer at the village. He's got stuff to work on anyways. Forget it, forget it," Linebeck muttered. He looked over at Link. "Anything of note?"

Link shrugged. "Hard to tell." He paused as the chimes filled the room with noise, then slowly went silent. "I don't see a way up, but there's space for a stairwell over there," he said, pointing to a break in the bottom ledge along with the one above it. "I think we've got to get there somehow."

"Makes sense," Midna mused. Then she beamed. "I could try and see what's up there using my shadow-walking magic! There are plenty of shadows around here, and, hell, I might be able to find something to help you guys up."

"It's too windy," Ghirahim countered. "With the wind, the lanterns keep swinging around and moving the light. What happens if light hits you when you're in the shadow?"

Not even a second after Ghirahim spoke, the wind blew through the room, jostling the chimes and the lanterns and making the light dance around the room. Midna's smile fell away. "...Right. Damn."

"I'm sure we'll figure something else out," Linebeck muttered. "We've got two more rooms. Let's split up to get this over with. I'll go with Link, we'll take the hall just over there," he said, pointing at a hall with some light coming out from it.

Link wasn't sure if he was relived or irritated that the next room was practically the same as the first. The same broken chairs and instruments and fallen boards. "I mean, this is an old abandoned music hall," he muttered to himself, trying to stifle his anger. "Ghirahim and Midna had better have found something interesting."

"I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary," Bellum mused. "Otherwise, we would have something worth taking out of here."

Linebeck scowled. "Nice. It's a waste of time. Let's get out of here..." He started to storm out of the room, cursing under his breath. The door slammed closed before he reached it, startling him so badly that he stumbled back and fell down.

A howl echoed through the room, and Link whipped out his sword and shield as a wolf-like creature appeared in a puff of smoke. It charged at Link without much warning and slashed at him, the long black claws practically sliding off the shield. Behind him, he heard Bellum screech something about 'wolfos' along with the sound of Linebeck scrambling away. The thing howled again and reared back to attack once more, and Link lunged forward, fluidly activating his sword and thrusting it into the beast's chest. It let out a mournful howl and dissipated into smoke.

"I thought that wolfos were just myths," Bellum hissed, rushing over to Link and circling his head. "They're monstrous wolves, as you saw. It would be cool to command an army of them." Link gave the AI a bemused smile.

"Are you alright?" Link turned to Linebeck. They both flinched as the door to the room reopened, reminding them of the loud chimes.

Linebeck got up, dusting himself off like nothing happened. "D-did that thing drop anything?"

Link shrugged, inspecting the spot where it died. "Doesn't look like anything... oh!" He picked up a small item. "Looks like a gear," he said, showing it to Linebeck, who took and pocketed it without a word.

Meeting back up in the main room, Ghirahim and Midna showed off another gear, slightly larger than the one that Link and Linebeck found. They pondered over their use, pacing to the sound of wooden chimes and occasional biwa notes, until Midna had them converge at the gap in the platform. She had found a pair of small holes in the wall, each matching the shape of the gears. They gave the gears to Link and stood back while he carefully fitted them into the holes. Nothing happened for the first few seconds as he slowly backed up.

A quiet click sounded out, followed by the sound of stone grinding against stone. The wall above the gap seemed to shift, and a staircase slid out in front of them. Link blinked. "Nice." Midna clapped him on the back and started up the stairs. Link waited until everyone else was ahead of him before walking up, his sword and shield at the ready. "Linebeck and I ran into a monster in our room."

"You wait until now to tell us?" Ghirahim hissed.

"I assume you two didn't deal with the same problem?"

"We just saw the gear on a table," Midna said, peering around the second floor. She waited until the wooden chimes quietly down, and the biwa notes accompanied the cold of the wind. "Now, then. We have four doors this time," she said, point at each of them. "Should we do one to a room?"

The vote ended up being three to one, and Link gave Linebeck an apologetic shrug. There was a doorway for each of the walls, and no gap like the lower floor had- there was no way up to be seen.

Link walked slowly down his short hallway, finding what a room that was a far-cry from the music rooms from before. It was small, a large stone block set in front of him. He checked every corner of the room, finding that only the stone block was the only thing of note. Curious, Link pushed his shoulder against the stone, leaning his weight against it. It shifted inwards a few inches. "So, there's space behind it," Link mused to himself.

He stepped back, and threw himself against the block, shifting it further, then stamped his feet into the ground, forcing the block to continue moving forward, through a doorway. After pushing far enough, he spotted an open space between the block and the wall, an opening into another room. Link slipped through the gap and found himself in an oddly foggy room. A distant howl caught his attention, and he prepared himself for battle, but nothing burst from the fog to kill him. Three other doorways led out of the foggy room, and he silently waited until he was sure that he was safe.

The wooden chimes were the only thing that Link could hear, and he walked through the left doorway. For a moment, he felt as if he was floating through nothing, then entered another foggy room. With a shock, he recognized the stone block he had pushed. A marking on the ground with a single line caught Link's attention. He stared at it, then around the room. The fog made it impossible to see into the next rooms. Could it be that there was only one correct answer, with the others sending him back to the beginning?

Link sighed to himself and walked through the doorway in front of him. He braced himself for the weightless feeling but continued walking until he reached a similar foggy room. This room's floor had a marking with two lines. How many rooms was he supposed to go through? No monsters had apprehended him so far, but he heard yet another distant howl. Ignoring it, Link went through the right hall and found himself back at the beginning.

Through the doorway in front of him... then the left hall. No weightlessness, and he found a room with three lines in the floor. This was going to take a while, Link realized, groaning to himself. At least he could perfectly remember where he went.

Trial and error was the name of the game; Link didn't bother to stop moving, sprinting through doorways and repeating the correct path if he made a mistake. Four, five, six, seven lines in the ground passed beneath. He reached eight and sat down for a bit. He wasn't getting tired, but he just needed a moment. Another howl, this time followed by a scream. It was too far away for Link to figure out who it was, but he leapt to his feet and continued sprinting through the foggy rooms.

Nine lines, ten, eleven- the twelfth room was not foggy, and the doorway he burst through was immediately closed by a door sliding down from above. Link let out a raspy exhale, falling to his knees. He was now in a fairly small room, slowing his breathing and allowing his body to fix his temperature. He'd forgotten about the wooden chimes and the biwa notes when traversing the rooms, and now heard them once again.

Dragging himself to his feet again, Link stumbled through the doorway in front of him, and reentered the large room they first entered into. For a moment, he was scared that he was back on the second floor, but realized he was now on the third. He hadn't noticed walking up any kind of incline while traversing the fog maze. Magic, probably. He was alone on the third floor, waiting for the others. Their rooms would most likely send them up to the third floor as well.

More howls in the distance, followed by the wooden chimes being rustled by the wind, and Midna stumbled out from one of the doors, which slammed closed after her. He dashed over to her, and she grabbed tightly onto her shoulders. "Someone screamed, who screamed?" she rasped, her eyes darting around. "Are you the only one up here?"

"I haven't seen the others. It might've been Linebeck, I kept hearing wolfos howls while I got up here."

"Damn it," Midna hissed. "I was the one dealing with wolfos," she said, holding out her right arm. A trio of cuts decorated her forearm. "I didn't scream, though."

"You had to fight wolfos? I was in some weird foggy maze."

"Goddesses, that sounds so much more pleasant than those flea-bitten bitches."

"It was disorienting," Link muttered, refusing to elaborate. "We should keep an eye out for the others-" Linebeck stumbled out from one of the two remaining doors, falling over and dropping his bow. Link and Midna sprinted over to him the moment the door slammed closed.

There was no blood to be seen, but they rushed over to him nonetheless. "Are you alright?" Midna asked, reaching him first. "We heard a scream on the way up here, we're not sure if that was you or Ghirahim."

"Wasn't me," Linebeck rasped, clawing at his bow and deactivating it. "Dealt with some traps, though. I hate this place. I hate it. I wish I was back at Rito Village. I wish I'd let Damien come with or something. I don't want to die in here." He sat up, shaking, and muttered, "How're you two?"

"Good," Link sighed. "At least you're unhurt, right?"

"I'm fine. What was with those howls?"

"I dealt with that," Midna mumbled. "So, it was Ghirahim who screamed."

"Do you think he's alright?" Link asked, looking over at the last doorway. "You'd think he'd be the first one out." He clipped his sword back to his belt but kept his shield out as he stood. "What if he gets killed?"

"I doubt that'd happen," Bellum muttered, Linebeck repeating his words out loud a few seconds later. "With that knife magic and his general skill, it might as well be impossible."

"Good point," Midna sighed. "For now, until he shows, how about we look around? There are less chimes, thank Hylia, but it's still loud..." She paused as biwa notes echoed. "Someone must be playing that. It's too irregular and varied."

"I'd bet money that we might have to kill whoever's playing it," Linebeck declared.

"Bold statement," Link mused, watching the last door.

Ghirahim burst through the last door, sprinting over to the others. It was clear that he was being chased by something, made even cleared by a large silhouette, visible beyond his door. It reached the doorway, looking like an enormous black wolfos, but the door slammed closed just in time. Ghirahim fell to his knees, panting. "I w-would've killed that damn thing if given the chance." He took Link's outstretched hand and allowed him to help him up.

"You screamed?"

Ghirahim scoffed at Link. "Maybe. I'm not hurt, though. How about the rest of you?"

"I've got a cut, but everyone else is fine," Midna said. "Now what? I can't figure out what we need to do next."

The four of them stared around. All four visible doorways were shut, and there were no other ways up or down. The chimes rang out, and wind chilling them all to the bone before it calmed and allowed them to warm back up. Link sighed and started to pace the third floor, running a hand against the walls. "Let's look around. There has to be something." The others nodded and started to inspect the room like Link was. Midna kicked at the ground and Ghirahim mimicked Link with the walls. Linebeck sat where he was, idly peering around and allowing the other three to do the work.

Link was starting to feel as through their efforts were futile when Linebeck stood up, reactivating his bow. "Hey, what's wrong?" Linebeck didn't answer he, silently nocking an arrow and bringing his bow up to aim. "What, is there a keese or something?" The arrow was let loose, and Link followed its path with his eyes, spotting what Linebeck was aiming at- an odd eye-shaped painting on the wall far above them. The arrow sank into the canvas and the painted eye shut itself, and a door opened right next to Midna.

"Nice aim," Midna mused, staring at Linebeck. "You and Revali managed to get some work in between all those arguments?"

"I got better in order to spite him," Linebeck declared, walking past her. "Let's get this over with. C'mon."

It was yet another hall, to no one's surprise, but it was the shortest of them all. They found themselves in a dim room, two other doorways leading away. The left doorway had a drawing of what looked to be a wolfos above it, while the other looked like a measure of music. Linebeck immediatly neared the right doorway.

"We don't know is that's safe," Link burst out, causing Linebeck to pause.

"It's an old abandoned music hall," Ghirahim snapped. "This was created most likely by the Rito, and then tainted by evil magic. Honestly, I think he'll be safe. Are you okay with going that way alone?"

"A-alone? Well y-yeah, of course. If the three of you all want to go down the same hall." Linebeck crossed his arms, leaning against the doorway. "Well, you three go ahead down your hall, then. I hope we'll be able to meet back up at the end of these."

"Do you want one of us to go with you?"

Linebeck scowled and turned, walking though his own doorway. "I'll be fine on my own, don't you tru-" His words were cut off by the doorway closing up.

Link grabbed both Midna and Ghirahim by an arm and tugged them down the other hall, ignoring as the door shut. "For his sake, we'd better be quick."

* * *

Bellum hovered a few feet in front of Linebeck, checking for traps or danger ahead of him. "It was a stupid idea to do this alone, you know that, right?"

"Shut up. I can defend myself, I got better with archery. Ghirahim gave me my quiver. Would it kill you to have some confidence in me?" Linebeck ran a hand along the wall as he walked to the bright end of the tunnel. Bellum exited the tunnel before Linebeck. "Is it safe?"

"Looks like it, you should be fine." Linebeck nodded and jogged out the tunnel, slowing to a stop once he saw it. "Yeah, this is pretty weird," Bellum sighed.

The room they found themselves in was large and rectangular in shape. In the middle of the room was a maze of sorts, inaccessible to Linebeck as it was covering by a ceiling of glass. He was able to walk around a walkway at the perimeter of the maze. Bellum remained close to Linebeck, staying close to the engineer.

Linebeck jogged around the perimeter of the maze once and stopped by what he assumed to be the beginning of the maze- a room with a number of surprisingly intact instruments laid out on a table. "What the hell is this..." he mused to himself, leaning over the railing.

"Hey, check this out," Bellum shouted, having wandered a few feet away from Linebeck, looking at something on the wall. "Looks like more music."

Linebeck nodded, inspecting the three lines of music. "That's a chromatic scale," he said, running a finger along the rising and descending notes. "Looks familiar."

"What instrument is this for?"

Linebeck tilted his head to the side, thinking to himself. "...It's a B-flat clarinet chromatic scale. I knew it looked familiar; Damien's showed me the sheet music. He's had me learn the piano chromatic scale to play along with him, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Is there any more music carved into the wall?"

"Lemme check," Bellum sped away, doing a quick lap of the room. "Doesn't look like it," he chirped once he returned. "Just this scale thingy."

"Fantastic," Linebeck muttered. "Any doors out?"

"We're stuck-" Bellum paused and whipped around to face the maze. "Do you hear that? Like a door opened."

Linebeck rushed over to the railing. The pair of them stared down at the beginning of the maze, where a familiar trio entered. Link, Ghirahim, and Midna looked confused and unaware of their watchers.

"Go down there," Linebeck ordered. "I'll talk through you. Let them know I'm here and all that." The AI complied, flying down and phasing through the glass ceiling, surprising Link. "Can you see through the glass?" Linebeck asked, Bellum repeating his words a few moments later.

Link was stunned for a moment, then spoke. Bellum zoomed back up and repeated what was said, "He can see though the glass." Linebeck waved down at them. Only Link waved back. The others were busy inspecting the room. "What do you three see down there?"

"Just a bunch of instruments and a door," Link answered. Bellum seemed a bit miffed to be used as a mouthpiece for the two of them.

"Anything interesting about the door?"

"...There's a bar of music on it. I think I need to play that music for the door to open."

Link started to go through the instruments left on the floor and picked up what looked to be a flute. "Don't use that," Linebeck quickly shouted, realizing what the chromatic scale meant. "Use a clarinet! It's a bit shorter than a flute and made with black wood!" Link seemed to sigh and swapped the two instruments out. "Can you read the music?"

"Yeah, It's just four notes in common time."

"Sharps or flats?"

"They're all naturals."

Linebeck nodded to himself, and didn't respond. After a few moments, Link lifted the mouthpiece to his mouth. Link played out the four notes, and the door slid open. They walked through the door triumphantly, but Bellum momentarily flickered. "Something's wrong."

Linebeck leaned over the railing, frowning. "Well, tell me if you can figure that you. Head down there and help me give them directions to the next door."

"Fine, fine."

"Thanks. Tell them to go right."

Link followed the directions without question, holding the clarinet loosely at his side. "Tell him to hold the damn clarinet correctly, or else he'll break it," Linebeck hissed, and Bellum repeated his words. Link shifted his handle on the instrument. "Better. They need to take the second left, then the third right."

The directions were followed smoothly, and Link played the music on the next door. The door slid open, and both Linebeck and Bellum realized what was wrong. The glass ceiling was slowly sliding down, the process sped up as the second door opened. They hadn't noticed before since it had been a slow crawl, but it was now visibly moving.

"Should we-"

"No, just tell them to be faster," Linebeck rasped. "Let them figure it out on their own. They need a right, a left, two more rights, and the third left." Bellum complied and relayed the instructions down to Link and company.

They clearly hadn't yet noticed the ceiling, but they froze one the third door opened up. The ceiling was falling rather noticeably now. After a moment, they started frantically speaking to each other, none of which Bellum decided to repeat to the engineer. "Tell them to hurry up!" Linebeck snapped.

The urgency was obvious as those in the maze were now sprinting, and Link was now tripping over notes in his newfound panic. Still, he got through the next door, and the ceiling slid down faster than before. Their running made it harder for Bellum to keep up and issue Linebeck's orders. The AI was practically screaming after them, hoping that Link would hear him.

It didn't look like Link was in earshot. He led the other two to dead ends and whipped back around. At best, he heard snippets of what Bellum was screaming. Linebeck gave up, falling to his knees, still grasping at the railing. "Idiots, they're idiots... Bellum, just ignore me. Get them through the maze."

There was a faint noise of agreement from Bellum, and he managed to catch up with the others. Linebeck watched hopelessly, as the glass ceiling slid down inch by inch. It started, what? Thirty, thirty-five feet above them? It had to have been twenty feet now. While Link reached and played in front of the next door, Ghirahim summoned and flung a number of daggers up at the glass. They just slammed against it and disappeared without making so much as a small crack.

Three more doors. Link opened the next one, so that left three more doors. There was a door out of the maze, but what about above the maze. Linebeck stood up, deciding that their fate was no longer his problem. The only door that he and Bellum had seen was the one leading in. While checking the walls, he hadn't seen a second door. Maybe it would be impossible to see until it was open, like the door into this place. A howl echoed through the room, and it had the same effect on Linebeck as the cold wind did.

He withdrew and activated his bow barely a second later, backing up against the wall and surveying the dim room. Most of the light came from the brightly illuminated maze. To someone like Link or Midna or Ghirahim, a wolfos would be no problem, just another monster, but that was because they had some kind of prior training in battle. Linebeck was just some skittish engineer with a week's worth of practice with a bow and a knife stowed just next to the arrows. He could still hear Bellum's instruction, and even managed to pick up the faint sound of the glass grinding against the wall as it slid down. Another howl echoed through the room, and a white wolfos appear on the other side of the room.

Terror swooped down and engulfed Linebeck's mind and he felt himself freeze, all thoughts outside of those about survival wiped from his mind. Link wasn't there to protect him, no one was. He trembled all over at the wolfos circumnavigated the room, nearing him, and, despite the cold, Linebeck felt a hot flush wash over him as he started to sweat. His breath came in and out in short, uneven bursts, and he forced himself to stumble backwards, suddenly dizzy as the monster neared him.

Linebeck reached back at his quiver, but his hand shook so violently that he knocked all of the arrows out. They all clattered to the floor just as Linebeck's legs gave out, the wolfos close enough for him to see slobber dripping from its mouth, the jaw hanging open, all of its yellow fangs on display as it lurched towards him on two legs. The claws on all of its paws were black and curved and as long as Linebeck's forearms, the color a striking difference from its snow-white fur.

Linebeck abandoned the idea of the bow as nausea forced bile up his throat, and he groped for his knife, ripping it from his scabbard. The knife slipped from his sweat-soaked hand, and the blade sliced his palm, but the pain was lost in the fear that numbed Linebeck's senses. He kicked at the floor as the wolfos swiped at his feet, and he grabbed the knife back up, holding it out. The blood from his palm dripped down and stain his shirt and vest, and the wolfos swiped again, the claws on its left paw sinking deep into Linebeck's left leg.

Linebeck cried out, redoubling his efforts to escape as the wolfos clamped its jaws down on his leg. Blood poured from between its teeth, and Linebeck was now gasping for breath, propping himself up and repeatedly kicking at the beast's head, his heart hammering in his chest. The wolfos let go of his leg after a particularly nasty kick to the eye and let out another howl. Linebeck winced at the sudden blast of hot air and help ups his arms to shield his face from any of the wolfos's flying drool. Goddesses, he hated dog's breath enough when it was just from a small domesticated puppy- this wolfos's breath was downright putrid, and it took all of Linebeck's self-control to not vomit.

The agony that radiated from his leg made him lightheaded, and he barely reacted in time when the wolfos snapped at his head. Linebeck forced himself to roll away, his breath catching in his chest as more pain jolted up his body. The wolfos snapped at him against, this time clamping its teeth around Linebeck's metal arm, which he'd held out in a desperate attempt to protect himself. His prosthetic only transmitted tactile sensations, not pain, but he felt horrible enough when the wolfos managed to sink its fangs an inch into the metal.

The knife was laying only a few inches away, in a small pool of his blood. Both Linebeck's chest and throat were tight and breathing suddenly became painful as the wolfos forced his arm closer to his chest. One of its hind legs stamped on his abdomen, its horrible claws scoring gashes in his side. Linebeck clawed at the knife, reaching across his body for the weapon, and managed to drag it a few inches closer. His left arm, with a screech of metal, bend inwards, surrendering to the wolfos's weight, and it dug more claws into his right shoulder.

Linebeck's breath came in short bursts as he dragged the knife closer, feeling as though time had slowed. The wolfos let go of his prosthetic, his coat sleeve all torn up. For some reason, Damien came to mind- and more panic and fear flooded his senses. He couldn't die. Not now. Not now. Not like this. Linebeck kicked at the wolfos's underside. Not like this. He abandoned the knife and clawed desperately at its throat. Not before- The overgrown wolf lunged for Linebeck's neck. He went limp, giving up. That was it. All he could hope for now was that it was a quick death.

The wolfos froze not even half an inch away from his neck.

The monster hovered silently over Linebeck for a moment more, then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Once the smoke was gone, Linebeck turned onto his side and retched, unaware of Midna retracting her spear, which had pierced the wolfos's heart a moment before. Linebeck lay on his side, shuddering, feeling feverish and lightheaded as blood gushed from his wounds, creating a sizable pool around him. The frantic conversation that sprang up around him turned to white noise, and he was left with his thoughts for a few moments. Just thinking about Damien had given him more of a will to survive, just then. Linebeck passed out before he could untangle his desperate thoughts.

* * *

"I-is he dead?" Link whispered, staring down at Linebeck. They'd finished the maze only a minute prior, and Bellum had screamed at them to go and help Linebeck but didn't explain why. The clarinet had been abandoned. The scene of the wolfos mauling Linebeck had made Link's knees go weak until Midna sank into the shadows to avoid detection. Ghirahim was ready to intervene right when Midna reappeared and killed the monster. Now, she crouched at Linebeck's side, shifting him onto his back.

"H-he's alive, just out cold," Midna said. "Ghirahim, get out the medical supplies. We need to patch him up, and fast. It's a good thing we got here when we did... We need a lot of bandages," she said, taking the bundle of bandages that Ghirahim handed to her. "Link, you pick up his stuff and bring it over here. Make sure to get all of the arrows."

Link shakily nodded and stumbled over to the blood-soaked arrows. The feathers were painted red and dripping, and Link's hands trembled as he collected them. "N-now what do we do?" Ghirahim and Midna were quickly wrapping Linebeck's wounds. "Do you guys think he'll need stitches?"

"Probably," Ghirahim drawled. "Of course he couldn't protect himself. One of us should've gone with him. Idiot..." His tone was disdainful, but the tremble in his voice suggested otherwise. He tied off some bandages around the wound on Linebeck's leg. "How's his arm looking? Do you think he could fix that?"

Link gathered up a bundle of arrows and turned his gaze to Linebeck's left arm. The sleeve of his coat was ripped up, and the forearm of his prosthetic was bent inwards at a sharp angle. Bellum hovered lethargically over Linebeck's chest. "How's the damage to his arm?" Link asked him.

"The metal's bent, but none of the wires are broken. He'd just need to remedy the bend. I'm more worried about the other damage, though. If he dies, then I'm dead. Plus, Damien will hunt you lot down if anything else happens to Linebeck."

Link laughed nervously, tucking the arrows back into the quiver. Midna unbuttoned Linebeck's shirt and pulled it away from the gash in his side, and slipped the sleeve off his right shoulder. Ghirahim handed her more bandages, and she got to wrapping up his shoulder. "His aim with the bow is much better, but it still doesn't seem like he can properly defend himself just yet. Link, ask Bellum if he knows what happened."

"I didn't see anything," Bellum admitted.

Link sighed, picking up the rest of the arrows. He picked up Linebeck's knife. "He looked like he dropped his knife," he said, peering around for the sheathe. "Where does he keep this?"

"Back of his belt, just hold on to it," Ghirahim muttered, tying off the last of the bandages. He sighed heavily. "Who's gonna carry him?"

"I'll do it, you did it last time," Midna muttered. "I'm not going to button his shirt back up or anything. We need to see if we need to replace the bandages." She hoisted Linebeck up, her right arm under his knees and her left hooked under his shoulders. His head rested against her shoulder. "Good thing he doesn't weigh too much," Midna muttered.

Link awkwardly slid the knife back into the sheathe and rubbed his hands together. "...Now what?"

"We keep going," Ghirahim sighed. "We don't know of a way out of here, so let's just keep going."

With Linebeck now properly patched up, they walked down the corridor that had opened up, connecting the maze and the observation floor. The glass ceiling was now flat against the ground of the maze. "I wonder what would've happened if I didn't use a clarinet to try and open those doors?"

Ghirahim shrugged. "Maybe nothing." He sauntered across the room, towards a rusty metal door. "This is... different than everything else we've seen here." He closed his hand around the handle but stopped. Five biwa notes rang out, louder than ever and seeming to come from behind the door.

"The biwa player must be past this door," Link observed, standing beside Ghirahim. "...Does any of this have to do with the avalanches?"

"Who knows, but, right now, we need to get out of there," Midna said. "If we run into a fight, you two handle most of it until I find a safe place to leave Linebeck. Just open the door."

Ghirahim nodded and pushed the door open. Its hinges creaked loudly, due an obvious lack of use. Link walked through first. The others followed, and the door shut behind them. The room was eerily similar to the final room in the prison at Zora's Domain.

"The columns," Ghirahim mused, pointing to columns at were placed a few feet away from the wall, lined up at the perimeter of the room. "Midna, you could leave Linebeck behind one of those. Avoid that... box in the middle," he muttered, glancing at the wooden structure in the middle. It was just a large cube of birch wood, as far as they could all tell.

"We can't be too careful," Midna mused. "I'll hold onto him until we know what's going on. Link, go check that thing out."

Nothing was said as Link slowly approached the wood box, apprehensively taking out his sword and shield. Just as he got within three feet of the box, the wood seemed to melt away- Link jumped back, and four biwa notes loudly rang out, originating from what had been in the box. Once the wood was melted away and disappeared, a skeletal figure stood in the middle of the room, not looking entirely Hylian with long, black hair that covered their face. In their hands they held a biwa and its pick.

At first, Link almost let himself relax- then the figure shifted their arms, and he caught a glimpse of a red gem on their chest. The figure tilted its head to the side. Then, with surprising agility, they lunged at Link, playing a single resounding note. Link deflected the kick by simply raising up his shield, but he didn't expect the black vine-like tendrils that shot out from the biwa itself, curling around his shield.

Link cried out, stumbling back, and the tendrils were severed by a few of Ghirahim's knives. The demon surged past him, sword at the ready. Ghirahim slashed at the biwa player, but they played two notes and a barrier of sorts halted Ghirahim's attack. Not wasting a moment, the reedy biwa player played a sequence of notes and black tendrils sped towards both Ghirahim and Link, and the room itself began to violently shake.

Link managed to cut the tendrils away, slicing through them like they were made of paper, while Ghirahim loudly cursed, the tendrils curling around his arms. Behind them, Midna loudly cursed, then shouted, "I bet this bastard's been causing those avalanches!"

"Keep Linebeck safe," Link yelled, sprinting over to cut away the tendrils binding Ghirahim. The shaking of the ground almost forced him to fall over as he ran. The biwa player stood in place, their head tilted down, and played three notes. Tendrils shot out from the biwa again, but outwards from the figure in all directions. Ghirahim shoved Link back, the two of them just barely managing to dodge. Link stumbled away, keeping his eyes on the pale figure.

"Playing notes causes these attacks," Ghirahim rasped. He summoned more knives with a snap of his fingers, but they never reached the biwa as a barrier was rapidly summoned. "Those barriers are going to be a problem," he hissed, getting to his feet. "Let's test something out- attack it from behind. Go!" Shoving Link in the opposite direction, Ghirahim sprinted to one side of the figure.

Link mirrored him, shifting both hands onto his sword's grip. They both kept their distance from the figure, who didn't move aside from the twitching of their head. Out of the corner of his eye, Link spotted Midna leaving Linebeck by the door, and withdrawing her spear to join the fight. Once Ghirahim was directly across from Link, the two of them lunged at the figure. They jumped high enough to dodge the tendrils that shot out, and the figure seemed to pause, and then played two notes. A pair of barriers appeared and halted the blades.

Link and Ghirahim practically slammed into the barriers and fell into the tendrils, which rapidly curled around their bodies. They were surprisingly strong, binding Link's legs together. He managed to slice through them with ease, but Ghirahim was having a more difficult time, his sword rubbing against the black ropes. Link fell to the ground and scrambled away. Midna surged past him, sprinting at the figure. She halted her advance by Link and threw her spear at the biwa player's chest.

The tendrils immediately withdrew from Ghirahim, and the figure stood, frozen. The spear would've skewered them through the chest if they hadn't shuffled a step to the side. Midna scowled but stayed frozen where she stood. She thrust out a hand, motioning for Link not to move, and then made a motion to tell him to stay silent. She turned to Ghirahim and did the same motions. He froze as well, gritting his teeth.

Midna's spear clattered on the ground, and the figure twitched. They played a singular note and a tendril shot out at the air around the spear. After a few moments, the tendril withdrew, and the figure shifted their weight. They played three notes and the tendrils shot out and them, hitting nothing. Link's eyes widened in realization.

The biwa player was relying wholly on sound- they couldn't see. Link slowly got up, holding his breath. Unfortunately, despite being a robot, Link still needed to breathe to continue to function, so he had to move quickly. His sword and shield were both still out. Moving his feet would inevitably cause sound. Midna's boots had metal on the bottoms of them, and Ghirahim, despite being a careful mover, could do nothing about any noise his cloak would make. Link could be quiet, but it would be difficult to be silent while approaching the figure.

Link placed one foot in front of the other, and a sequence of notes was played. The room shook, and Link fell over. The player sprinted over to him, playing more notes. Both a barrier and black tendrils shot out, dragging Link closer. Midna retrieved her spear and ran to him, but Ghirahim sheathed his sword and abandoned the two of them. Anger flashed through Link's body, and he squirmed against the tendrils that rapidly covered his arms.

Midna cut away at the tendrils, but the biwa player played another series of notes. The room shook again, and more black vines curled around Midna's spear, leading up to her hands and arms. "What does that bastard Ghirahim think he's doing?!" she spat, watching him sprint away from them, trying to tug her arms away.

The tendrils wrapped around both of Link's arms and made their way onto his shoulders and down his back. They unpleasantly scratched his synthetic skin, creating rips that he could do nothing about as they traveled further downwards and up to his neck. The tendrils tightened painfully. Midna was wriggling ever so slightly, and something in her eyes indicated that she realized something. She froze, and then disappeared, melting into the shadow that the figure made.

Jealousy surged through Link's limbs along with pain as the black vines tightened like vices. Midna reappeared behind the figure, free from its tendrils, and thrust her spear at their chest again. Two notes, and a barrier halted her attack. The gem in the biwa player's chest was practically on display, mocking Link and the others' failed efforts to shatter it. Agony enveloped Link's mind. Something- multiple somethings- snapped as the tendrils compressed his body. For a moment he was able to suppress a scream, but the black tendrils stabbed into the body and began to rip him apart from the inside. The scream forced its way out.

The biwa player flinched at the sudden noise. Midna shouted as well, terror written all over her face. And, as noise distracted the unseeing figure, an arrow sliced through the air and imbedded itself deep in the gem. The force behind the arrow shattered the gem, and an inhuman roar emanated from the figure, rising above the screaming of Midna and Link. The tendrils dissipated as the figure screamed, but the damage was done. Link fell to the ground, broken and trembling.

Ghirahim stood in front of a still-unconscious Linebeck, the mechanical bow in his hands. Link tried to say something along the lines of a thanks, but it only came out as a pained gurgle. The biwa player's instrument crumbled away, and the figure fell to its knees, shuddering, letting out a low groan. Smoke billowed from both the shattered remains of the gem as well as the figure's mouth, and it slowly crumbled to dust. Link shuddered, a wave of pain rushing through his body.

Midna rushed over to Link's side while Ghirahim stuck with Linebeck. "Damn it! You'd be dead if you were human..."

He was unable to see the extent of the damage, but Link could barely feel his limbs. Ghirahim stumbled overed, carrying Linebeck in his arms. "O-oh shit..." Ghirahim whispered. "We need to get out of here! Just gather Link up and let's leave- a doorway opened up back there. Hopefully, Revali might find us."

The doorway that Ghirahim spotted was opposite the one they entered through. Each of them carrying an injured friend, they stumbled through the doorway and up the staircase that was beyond it. Link was barely conscious. He could feel his arms and legs limply swinging around but could do nothing to stop it. He couldn't even move his head. The only thing he could do was inhale and exhale and move his eyes around. His breath caught in his chest as it occurred to him that the tendrils had most certainly ripped him apart.

The blast of cold air made Link cough. Midna carried him outside into the snow with Ghirahim. The sky was bright and cloudless. "We're close to around halfway up the mountain," Ghirahim guessed. "Can you see the ravine from here?"

"Yeah, down there. Thanks for, uh, saving our asses back there."

"No problem. How'd you get away? There weren't that many shadows."

"S-something happened while I was trying to get away. I think light shined over the shadow I was in, and I thought about moving behind that biwa player, and I was suddenly there. I think I might've accidentally teleported."

"Damn it. Teach me how to do that. Isn't that about the limit of your powers?"

"I still need to practice manipulating things, like how I can make small things levitate. But we need to get Link and Linebeck back to Rito Village. If we're lucky, Revali or some other Rito will spot us and help us out." Midna glanced down at Link. The robot could only manage to blink up at her. "How are you holding up? You've practically been torn up..."

Link opened and closed his mouth, no sound coming out. He realized just a little too late that he couldn't smell anything, and his sense of touch was fading. All he could do was mouth the word 'hurry'.

"That's all I needed to know," Midna breathed. "We can't waste any time," she said, this time speaking to Ghirahim. "We need to get back as fast as we can."

Link attempted to let out a sigh and manually switched himself off. Staying awake for the walk back would amount to nothing.


	24. The Robot's Pulse

**A/N: Bit of a warning before the start of this chapter; there's some especially nasty language in the last third of this chapter. **

* * *

"We're lucky Damien didn't kill us," Midna sighed, hunched over her mug of tea.

"Getting yelled at wasn't very fun, though," Ghirahim scowled, pouring a spoonful of sugar into his own tea. "He owes us for saving his boyfriend's ass." He took a sip of his tea and pushed the container of sugar over to Midna's side of the table. "Want any? I can't imagine that plain green tea is any good without sugar."

"You're gross for putting that much sugar into black tea," Midna responded. She stared sullenly down at her drink. The Rito Village coffee and tea shop was a cozy little building with few customers currently in it, but the warm atmosphere had been ruined for the two visitors when Damien had furiously tracked down and cornered them. He hadn't yelled, but Midna would've preferred it if he had. Instead, his voice had been low and strained, and a multitude of emotions had been swimming in his eyes.

He hadn't been that angry when Linebeck was hurt in Zora's Domain, but Linebeck hadn't been nearly as hurt then. Plus, Linebeck had mentioned that Damien asked about going with them- perhaps guilt plagued the poor man, like it plagued Midna and Ghirahim. Midna glanced over her shoulder at where Linebeck was being kept. It was a small building, a hospital of sorts. It was fairly close to the coffee shop. She couldn't see inside, as the woven curtains allowed the patients privacy. Still, Midna was sure that Damien was visiting Linebeck.

Ghirahim took a long drink from his tea and sighed. "Well. The healers here had better be fantastic, or else Link's not getting better either."

"Can't some Shiekah-"

"Linebeck is the only one who actually knows how to fix or edit Link. I don't trust them enough, anyways." He rubbed his chin, peering into his mug at his tea. "Do you think he'll wake up some time today? We should pick up a coffee for him. Or at least for Damien. What kind of coffee does he like? I know Linebeck likes his coffee as black and plain as possible."

"We could just settle for a hot chocolate or something," Midna offered. "But I need to go and talk to the chieftains. You can be the one to try and win back Damien's trust."

"Oh, yeah, we need the next pendant," Ghirahim mused. "Good luck with that. Kaneli seems like a nice enough guy, but Revali wasn't too happy with us. Do we have any proof that we stopped the avalanches?"

Midna silently shook her head. "Not as far as I know. I know that Revali's sent a few patrols to check out the music hall, though, since that door out is now open. Maybe we can prove what we've done with whatever they find down there. As far as they know, we just ran into a dungeon and almost got killed." She drank the last of her tea and left the mug in front of Ghirahim. "I'll go talk to them now. It'd be a good idea if you checked on Link every so often- at least just to make sure that all his parts are still together. Linebeck's gonna have a field day trying to piece him back together..."

Midna walked past the small hospital, getting a quick view of the inside. She couldn't see any patients, but she spotted Damien milling around inside. The way he was shifting and moving implied worry. Midna sighed and straightened her back and quickened her pace as she made her way to Kaneli's hut. The old Rito chieftain was talking with Revali and Komali. Midna walked a bit closer and stopped in her tracks once she spotted Komali's father. Shit. They were talking about her and the others, weren't they?

They had returned from the music hall and the mountain only a few hours ago- in truth, she was surprised that Revali hadn't already gone to the chieftains about it. She shifted from one foot to another and strode down the bridge to the hut.

"...Their story mentioned that figure we'd been seeing around the mountains. The one who'd been causing problems." Revali sighed, crossing his arms. "They said that they'd killed them. My patrols reported that the music hall had nothing alive within it. They also explored the pit at the bottom of it, finding spikes and the bodies of unfortunate travelers. There was a room overlooking a large maze. We found large spots of dried blood, so we can assume that was the room where the engineer was hurt."

"It was," Midna sighed, walking in. "I apologize for interrupting, but that room is where he was hurt. Thanks, uh, Revali for finding us afterwards."

The warrior only rolled his eyes. "That's my job. Don't think I'm not still mad at you for running off in the middle of the blizzard, through."

"Did you say that that figure we fought had been seen in other places around the mountain?"

Komali blinked, speaking before Revali had a chance. "Yes, it had been attacking patrols. It was always seen before an avalanche... you and the others killed it?"

"Yeah. They were able to make the room we fought in shake, so we assumed that it was what caused the quakes." Midna shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable with how everyone's eyes were now on her. Komali had a slight smile on his face. Revali and Komali's father both had steely looks in their eyes, but only Revali seemed haughty. Kaneli simply rocked back and forth in his chair. "...I apologize if we caused any trouble, but we need the Pendant of Courage."

Komali's father tilted his head. "You did not cause too much trouble for us. Even if the figure you defeated had little to do with the quakes, we're grateful for what you've done. Kaneli, what do you think?"

The old Rito nodded, stroking his beard. "Yes, you youngsters are a brave bunch. I'd say that you're deserving of the pendant. Say, that Link boy, he's the hero, isn't he?"

Midna nodded. "Yes, and we have also confirmed that he holds the Triforce of Courage."

"Oh-ho! Really? I heard that he was ripped apart, but he is a robot, no? Could you bring him here? I'll check for his Triforce piece myself."

Midna nodded silently and left to collect the damaged robot. She ran into Ghirahim in the inn, standing near Link's bed. "He looks like a pile of skin and wires and metal," Ghirahim muttered, eyes downcast. Link's limbs were just barely connected to his torso with thin wires and metal, lacerations in the metal itself. His torse was ripped up with wires torn out and the metal within all twisted and bent. The only thing that hadn't been damaged was his face.

Midna sighed and gathered him up. "I need to talk with you once I'm done with the Rito."

"About what?"

"Linebeck." She left it at that and carried Link all the way to the waiting Rito.

Kanli let out a soft sigh upon seeing Link. Komali's father tensed up, and Revali looked away. Komali's eyes were glued to the broken robot, but he didn't appeaer scared- just amazed. "I'll... hold out his left hand for you. He said that the piece showed itself on the back of his left hand."

Kanli nodded. The others stepped aside to give Midna room as she walked up and held out Link's hand. It hung limply, just barely still connected to the rest of his arm. The old Rito leaned forward and slowly waved his large hand over Link's, muttering something under his breath. Once done, he held up Link's hand, allowing the others to see the shining mark of the Triforce. The Triforce of Courage in the bottom right was the brightest. Revali scoffed, while the others stared in amazement.

"Why would the goddesses choose a robot as their hero?" Komali quietly asked, peering up at his father.

Midna cleared her throat. "The pendant of Wisdom was kept in Link's belt pouch, so it's still safe," she said, reaching into the pouch and holding up the blue pendant. "Quite honestly, we're lucky that it wasn't damaged. In the future, we'll be sure to keep it somewhere safer."

The mark of the Triforce faded from the back of Link's hand, and the two chieftains agreed to present Midna and the others with the pendant of Courage. There was little ceremony. They just made her promise to keep it safe, and that Power was located with the Gorons. Ghirahim was waiting for her at the inn.

Midna held up the two pendants after laying Link back down. "Two of three. No one's around, right?"

"Yeah. I made sure. Damien's still at the healer's hut. What do we need to talk about Linebeck for?"

Midna sat down on her bed. She hesitated. "Well... he's gotten badly hurt both times we went into a dungeon," she began. "And even before that, he's had a penchant for getting himself hurt and being mostly unable to protect himself. He's been hurting himself less," she quickly added, locking eyes with Ghirahim. "I noticed that while patching up his shoulder. He had no fresh cuts or scars. I think he's doing better."

"It seemed that way."

"Yeah. But, still. For now I want your opinion on whether or not we should still let Linebeck come with us into these dungeons if all he's managed to accomplish is getting himself hurt or almost killed."

"I needed him in that Zora prison," Ghirahim pointed out. "His skill with the bow and his general presence was needed."

"Yes, but, if you think about it, we could've easily done each chamber without him, just by doing one, and then the next one on its own. And you just proved your own skill with a bow- if archery is needed, we can just bring the bow itself.

"What about the maze? Linebeck was giving us instructions with Bellum. None of us could've done that."

"Yes, but that second half of the maze with done without needed instruction." Midna fell back on the bed, grimacing. "I don't want to come off like he's useless, it's just that he's doing nothing but endangering himself in the dungeons. He can wait outside with Damien and work on any repairs to Link once we return."

"He won't let us leave him behind," Ghirahim stated. "He won't. He's not like Damien- Linebeck won't just do what we tell him to. He'll find a way to follow us. I'm worried about him getting killed as well, but that can be avoided if we're just more careful."

MIdna nodded. "True. He seems more desperate to survive, too. Seemed like he put up a fight against that wolfos. He's got more a will to live now. Maybe because he's part of a team to save the world? Because he knows that his life is tied to Link's? For Damien's sake?"

"Honestly, all of them make sense, but the one that's most important to him is probably staying alive for Damien's sake," Ghirahim mused. "He's closer to Damien than anyone else. If this quest fails, if Link ultimately dies, Linebeck still has Damien to stick with. If Damien were to die, then that's it- he's going to die as well. They've been able to spend a lot of time together recently, so it was inevitable that Linebeck would choose Damien as his lifeline and choose him as a reason to stay alive."

"Do you think Damien knows that?"

"Probably. He seemed pretty guilty, too. I'd talk to him if he weren't so broken-down right now. We should visit him, y'know. See how he's doing."

Midna sat up and nodded. "Good idea, good idea... The Rito don't have magic healers like the Zora, but I hear the herbs and plants around here are pretty potent. Let's just hope he doesn't get hurt on Death Mountain."

"At least we can cauterize his wounds on Death Mountain."

Midna snorted. "Oh, he'd kill us for that. Let's quit stalling and go visit."

Damien barely glanced at them when they entered. Ghirahim attempted a quiet greeting but got no response. Damien's hair was down, and he idly played with his hair-tie. Midna peered at Damien for a moment longer. Linebeck had often said that he and Damien had the same hair color, but Damien's was darker and more brown than green. Ghirahim used to make jokes about how Linebeck looked like he had moss in his hair. "Hey," she said, standing by him. He ignored her, only tilting his head further down so that his hair hung down and hid his face. "Sorry."

"He's doing better," Damien finally rasped, his voice low. Ghirahim said nothing, and Midna looked over at Linebeck. His coat and scarf and vest were folded up and set on the bedside table beside Damien. Fresh bandages were wrapped around his wounds, the right leg of his pants was rolled up past the injury, and his shirt was left unbuttoned and open. "He's doing better, isn't he?"

What was he talking about? His physical or mental state? Either way, Midna nodded, sitting down next to Damien. This was a familiar sight, and she was worried that it would become a frequent one. "He is."

Ghirahim sat down on the other side of the bed. The hut was surprisingly warm. Different rooms were separated by thick walls of wood, and a curtain allowed privacy and a way in and out of each room. "How, uh, how are you, Damien?"

"Fine," he mumbled. "Sorry for yelling at you guys. I was just scared. And mad, I guess. Thanks for saving him and bringing him back. The healers said that he might actually wake up in a day or two. HIs injuries are deep, but they've got the right equipment to keep him stable. He needs a blood transfusion at some point, though," he mused.

Midna blinked. She'd heard little of blood transfusions- they were apparently created by the Sheikah in Kakariko, so they were still relatively new. "He lost that much blood?" Now that she took another look at him, Linebeck was much paler than usual.

"Yup." Damien sighed and dug around in his pockets. He pulled out a box of cigarettes and a lighter of his own. "What about Link?"

"In pieces, but he's alive. It's a good thing that he's a robot."

"...Yeah. I've got some work to do." Damien slowly stood, carefully lighting a cigarette. "See you guys around until we leave. Lurelin is our next destination, right?"

"We plan on staying there for a day," Ghirahim said. "Were there any problems here while we were gone?"

"Yiga were spotted prowling around, but no one was attacked."

"Where's that Ravio guy?" Midna asked, recalling the friendly merchant and his bird.

"He left a few hours ago." Damien turned and left the room without a word, quietly pushing the curtain out of his way.

Midna and Ghirahim stayed in the room until a Rito healer asked them to leave so that they could further tend to Linebeck's injuries.

* * *

It took three days for Linebeck to be well enough to walk around. Midna and Ghirahim were silently relived and kept an eye on him for a bit. He walked with a slight limp since his leg wound had been the worst, and occasionally winced with pain, but was otherwise fine. Linebeck picked up Link's ruined body from the inn and decided to do repairs in the Rito's general workshop soon after waking.

Damien had been working on a new piece of furniture when Linebeck walked in. He was working with the miter saw when he spotted the engineer, and nearly lost a finger as he suddenly let go of the saw's handle. "Y-you're alright! How are-" The saw slid down and cut through the wood underneath it, the sudden speed causing part of the wood to fly off the table. It hit Damien on the back on his neck, and he cursed aloud.

"I'm a little more worried about you," Linebeck said, watching with mild amusement as Damien glared indignantly at the shard of wood. "How many times have you told me to be wary of that equipment?"

"I get a pass because I'm used to this stuff," Damien muttered. He tossed the wood away, and a smile replaced his scowl. "I'm so happy to see you up, though,"

Linebeck smiled faintly as he laid Link on a clear table. "I'm still hurt and all, but it is nice to be up and about. Being stuck in bed for three days sucks." He sighed and strode over to Damien. "How'd you hold up without me, hm?"

Damien rolled his eyes up at him. "_You're _the one who's desperate to be around me. Anyways, what was the thing that nearly killed you?"

"Why so eager?"

"Just curious. I want to know what kind of things you're dealing with and what kind of things I should be ready to fight, y'know?"

"White wolfos."

"Holy shit! Can't believe that you survived that."

"I put up a good fight, kicking at it and holding it off until the others managed to kill it."

"I heard that you were just barely holding it off and passed out the moment it was killed." Damien grinned good-naturedly and peered at Link. "You got out of a wolfos fight in better shape than him. Want some help?"

"Yeah," Linebeck sighed. "They didn't tell me how he got into such a bad state, but I'm pissed about it. They realize it's my job the piece him back together, right? And while I was already hurt... I'll tell you how to work with him. I know you're a carpenter, but how much do you know about engineering?"

"I took a class," Damien offered, crossing his arms on the table. "But that class was mostly about how to work the equipment, and nothing else."

Linebeck straightened Link out, positioning his limbs at an angle to make them easy to fix. "Well, I want to crack his chest open once done, and I need to look at something on his back, too. For now, just handle the tools, and if I need your help, I'll tell you what to do. ...I'll take a cigarette if you have one."

They were left alone as they worked; no Rito entered, or even seemed to come near the building. When Linebeck didn't need help, Damien worked on his own projects or silently watched. Linebeck repaired frayed wires and bent metal back into place, sometimes having to heat portions of metal in order to get it malleable enough to fix. Link's left leg was the worst spot, and the first that was worked on. The robot's kneecap was shifted to the side, and Linebeck had to cut away at the skin and move wires out of the way to get to it and tug it back into place.

The smells of cigarette smoke and oil and wood shaving were probably what gave them privacy. Linebeck often called for Damien to hold something to the side or give him tools or keep an eye on a shifting part. Link didn't stir was he was repaired- Bellum was stationed to hover above his face and check for any signs of consciousness. Linebeck stitched up spots of ripped skin, setting metal 'bones' and fully re-connecting the leg. "It's like surgery," Damien said at one point, causing Linebeck to pause and thoughtfully nod.

The parts of Shiekah tech within Link were unscathed, as usual. Peering into Link's chest, Damien frowned at the fake organs. "Weird stuff in here. How come he has a pulse?"

"He uses oxygen to keep his systems running," Linebeck explained.

Damien reached into Link's chest cavity and placed a hand on the heart piece. "Weird. It's slow, like as if he was sleeping. Does it vary like a human's heartbeat?"

"I think."

"That's weird."

Linebeck fixed Link's other leg and got to fixing the arms. "Do me a solid and give me a run-down of the damage on his neck."

"Uhhh... Ripped skin all around, with a few bent wires, but the damage isn't too bad."

"Fix the wires. Could you stitch up the skin, too? It reconnects like real skin after being stitched."

"This is the weirdest robot I've even seen," Damien muttered, reached in and straightening wires. "He's too human. Even if he existed 200 years ago, why would the goddesses choose a man-made robot to be the hero instead of an actual person?"

"Necessity, I'd assume. After all, Link is still alive despite sustaining wounds that would've been fatal had he been human."

"Smart move on their part, then," Damien responded, done with the wires. He reached up and took the cigarette from his mouth, blowing out some smoke. "Do you think cigarette smoke bothers him?" He took a drag and blew smoke into Link's face. "Right, right, he's not awake."

"He has an olfactory sense, and I've seen him grimace." Linebeck handed Damien the stitching kit. "Get the stitching done quick; I need this stuff back in a bit."

"Got it." Damien strode around the table to stand next to Linebeck before getting to work. "...Do your injuries still hurt?"

"Well, yeah. Thanks for visiting while I was hurt. Ghirahim let me know."

"I was worried. We all were, really. Going into those dungeons is really dangerous for you. Link and the others can easily take down a wolfos , and I bet they could even hold off a horde; facing just one of them is a life-or-death situation for you." Damien paused, gazing over at Linebeck. "All of this is much more dangerous for you because you can't fight the way they do. I wonder if things would've been different if I'd gone with you."

Linebeck shook his head almost immediately. "No, I don't want you getting dragged into all of this. It was me and Link and the others that were sent on this quest- you just got dragged along by your job. You have the choice to ignore all of this and to leave and go back to your life. I'm fine with getting hurt, since two of my limbs can't actually be hurt and I stay out of trouble. You're the one who chases after muggers."

"Yeah, well, if I had been there, axe in hand, I could've killed that thing in a moment," Damien sighed, stitching up Link's neck. "Hey."

"What?"

"I'm just glad that you're alright." Damien cut off the excess string. "Since you got dragged into the conflict between the Yiga and the Sheikah and the world as a whole, I've been scared, y'know?" He held the small sewing kit out to Linebeck. The engineer reached out to take the kit, only for Damien to close his hand around Linebeck's. Damien tugged Linebeck a bit closer, and then peered up at him. "...Sorry about the sudden contact."

"It's fine."

"Don't be a dumbass, is essentially what I'm trying to say." Damien set his jaw, a fairly determined look now in his eyes. "I'm half tempted to follow you guys into the next dungeon in order to make sure you don't die. Got it?" He playfully punched Linebeck in the chest, leaving his fist there. "I can only handle so many days of worrying that you won't come back, alright?" He flatted out his hand, holding it above Linebeck's heart. "I've got enough stress to deal with... uh, as a carpenter."

"Didn't think that carpentry was a very stressful job." Linebeck smiled down at Damien, slightly leaning against him. "I'll be sure not to go off on my own, then." He placed his own hand over Damien's. "I'll see if the others would let you go with us to the next dungeon, if you're so worried. But, of course, the Yiga are a problem outside those dungeons, I don't trust the Sheikah..." Linebeck groaned. "The world might end, too... Damn, there's a good chance we'll die during this whole quest."

"Well, if I had to pick how to die, it'd probably be by your side. In any context, not just going down in a bloody rage or something." Damien smiled weakly. "We're only stopping in Lurelin for a day, right? Might as well take that day off, huh? Even though we're traveling together like this, it's been a bit hard to spend time with you, since work or this quest has gotten in the way."

"Sounds good." Linebeck tilted his head down and kissed Damien. They separated after a few moments, Linebeck flinching at something that Damien couldn't hear or see. "Yeah, yeah..."

"Can't you make some kind of goggles or something to let me see and hear Bellum?"

"Yeah, I managed that a few months back, but they broke really fast. Not much point." Linebeck waved something away. "He's so immature whenever we're together."

"He's jealous," Damien retorted. "Whatever. I suppose I'll have to get used to him, right? Back to work for now." He turned back to Link, on the table, and laughed to himself, poking the robot's head. "Good thing he didn't wake up just now."

Linebeck grimaced. "Yeah. I need to finish up his arms- help me out. You can get his right- straighten out any bent metal or wires."

Damien shuffled over to the other side of the table and reached into Link's arm. Mild disgust rose in his throat as his arms brushed against the synthetic skin and his mind registered it as real flesh. He wrapped his fingers around the bent metal and winced- it felt and looked too much like bone. Still, he tugged and straightened it out as much as he could. He glanced up and caught Linebeck staring at him. "Am I distracting you by having my sleeves rolled up?"

Linebeck blinked, then stared at the table. "Obviously. Sorry."

Damien laughed and unrolled his sleeves. He was getting cold, anyways. "Does Ghirahim ever distract you? I'm about as muscular as him." The only response he got was Linebeck's hand abruptly slipping. He dropped the subject. "Why do you think that Link is built in a style similar to the robots we see around towns?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he has Sheikah parts, right? And yet the majority of his structure is metal beams and wires. Similar to your prosthetics. The Sheikah parts almost look like they're an afterthought, for reinforcement and nothing else."

"Good point," Linebeck mused, peering into Link's arm. "I've noticed that but didn't put much thought into it."

"He was made 200 years ago, correct?"

"That's our guess."

"So why aren't his inner workings as advanced as Sheikah tech? He's a marvel of engineering and robotics, and better than anything I've seen these past few years, don't get me wrong, but he was clearly not built by the Sheikah. But he's the hero. Honestly, if you were to ask anyone, they'd probably assume that the hero would've been built by someone close to the royal family. It's still possible for a non-Sheikah robot to have been chosen, but now I'm just more curious about who created this guy." Damien glanced over at Link's face. "And why they chose to make him so cute-looking."

Linebeck snorted. "Yeah, I've got a few questions like that." He tossed the stitching kit back to Damien and started digging around in Link's chest. "Now, then. How do you think I can open up his heart? Nothing seems to be able to cut it yet."

"What were you going to look at on his back?"

"Purah and Robbie gave me a key to the old Sheikah language. Something is written on LInk's back using that language. I was going to place some paper on his back or whatever and try and use a pencil or whatever to see what's written and then translate it."

Damien cut off some more excess stitches in Link's arm. "Could you sit Link up so that I can write down what's on his back and so you can dig around in his chest at the same time?"

Linebeck nodded silently and he and Damien made Link sit up straight. Damien ran a hand up and down Link's back. "Oh, wow, that is some subtle stuff. I can feel out the word 'Link' at the bottom, though. That's how you named him?"

"Yup. Get to work."

Linebeck pushed some loose wires out of the way and ran his fingers up and down the heart-sized object. It was smooth, aside from the small bumps and holes and lines that glowed a faint blue or orange. The trademark of Sheikah technology, he'd decided, was the blue and orange light. He could feel and hear the soft beating of the mechanical organ.

"Try to cut it with Link's sword," Bellum piped up. "You can use his old one or the new one or Midna's new spear." Linebeck waved him away but decided to use Link's guardian sword, in the pile of the robot's equipment. He was careful with the glowing blade once activating the sword. "Don't break anything," Bellum teased.

"Shut it," Linebeck snapped. "My nerves are bad enough right now. Damien, are you done? I might actually need to lay Link back down for this."

"Give me a minute..." Damien moved faster, rubbing pencil lead against a large sheet of paper he'd found. The workshop had large quantity of paper along with wood and metal. "Done! There's a few words written." He laid Link down and backed away so that Linebeck could start.

Linebeck was silently grateful that he was ambidextrous as he switched the sword to his left hand. He tested the blade against a Sheikah-made beam first. It was slow, but the blade carefully cut through it. Perfect. He moved the blade over the heart piece, and sighed. "What do you want to bet's in there? I'm just thinking it's another fake organ."

"Wires, all the way."

"Right." Linebeck stared down at the shape, then slowly cut into it.

* * *

Midna dragged Ghirahim out of the Rito bar, cursing under her breath. "We're going to get the pendant taken away from us if you start a damned bar fight!"

Ghirahim rolled his eyes. "I doubt it."

"Either way, now's not the time to be getting drunk. We're leaving the day after Linebeck fixes Link, so you might as well start packing up."

"Fine, fine..." Midna shoved Ghirahim into the inn, and he practically tripped over his bed. "I'll get to it." Ghirahim straightened up, rubbing his temples. He'd only had one drink when Midna caught him.

He started shoving his things into his pack when Midna asked, "You can see Linebeck and Damien from here. I didn't realize that the Rito had a workshop so close to the inn."

"Cool. Can you hear them?"

"They're not talking."

"Damn." Ghirahim closed up his bag and dropped it neatly on his bed. "Done. Can I go now, mom?"

Midna shot him a dirty look. "I need your help with making some potions, too." Ghirahim groaned. "Oh, quit whining."

"Last time I helped you with potions, I got a bunch of it on my clothes!"

"Suck it up. Let's go."

The nearest hut with a cooking pot was even closer to the workshop- Linebeck and Damien were still silent as far as they could tell. Midna lined up her materials, and she and Ghirahim got to work on healing and fireproof potions, preparing for the oppressive heat of Death Mountain. The shift from an icy tundra to a steaming volcano would be a jarring one.

Ghirahim slowly poured lizard tails into the murky brew that Midna had quickly prepared. Pouring too fast would make the liquid spill over and splash onto his clothes, so he had to be very careful...

"OH, WHAT THE _FUCK_?!"

Ghirahim dropped the entire bottle into the potion, startled by Linebeck's scream. Ghirahim cursed under his breath, soaked in half-finished potion, and Midna whipped around. "THIS IS NOT WHAT I _FUCKING_ SIGNED UP FOR-"

Midna grabbed Ghirahim by the arm and dashed out of the hut. "Something's wrong," she rasped.

"No shit," Ghirahim snapped. "When Linebeck goes off like that, that means that as far as he's concerned, the world's ending."

There was a table separating Linebeck and Damien- Linebeck had apparently jumped onto the table behind him and was now scrambling back, shoving tools and materials out of his way, while Damien was pressed against the table behind him, staring at something on the table between them. Midna burst into the workshop with Ghirahim. Linebeck was still cursing enough to catch the attention of nearby Rito passerby, so Midna practically had to shout to be heard. "WHAT'S WRONG?"

Linebeck immediately shut up. He was shaking and pale like he'd made eye contact with a lynel, his eyes glued on something on Link. "I-I've dealt with a l-lot of weird robots, a l-lot of weird prosthetics, but n-never, _never_... That's not fucking possible!" His arm shot out, shakily pointing at Link. Midna let go of Ghirahim, allowing him to nervously mill around as she strode over to Link's prone body. He looked good as new, aside from some small scratches and his chest being open.

Midna stared down at him. Nothing seemed off- she froze, spotting what she assumed to be his fake heart. The previously thought-to-be-impervious material had a fairly sized rectangle cut out of it, revealing whatever had been inside. Midna had personally thought there to be some mess of complicated circuit boards or other pieces of hardware that were worth protecting. Instead, she understood why Linebeck reacted so violently.

Encased in the Sheikah material, beating and convulsing, was a human heart of flesh and blood. Despite being encased in metal without blood or veins, it beat at a slow pace as Link remained unconscious. Midna backed up a few steps. "Thats'... that's impossible." It was a healthy red color, as if it was in a living Hylian's chest, not in the chest cavity of a robot. Ghirahim took a look at the heart, his eyes widening and his hands coming up to his mouth.

Damien let out a shaky breath. "...Linebeck? H-have you ever seen anything like this?"

"Obviously not," Linebeck hissed, calmer now that his back was pressed against the wall. "I mean, you can put metal in a living being as long as it helps and doesn't screw with preexisting parts, like with me and other people needed prosthetics and stuff. And trust me, I've dealt with enough robots and I know enough about anatomy and all that nasty bloody shit to know that you can't just slam a _human fucking heart into a robot's chest and expect it to keep beating_."

"Th-there are no veins, no blood- it's incased in metal and it's still alive," Damien rasped. "I'm afraid to see what's in his head."

Something in Linebeck's mind seemed to snap, and he leapt off his table and snatched up the sword. Damien ran back over to Link again, the Midna and Ghirahim silently watched as they opened up a hatch in the back of Link's head, turning the robot onto his stomach. They moved so quickly that it was like they'd done it before- Linebeck wrenching open the hatch while Damien held Link's head in place, helping guide his boyfriend's hand as he cut into the shape in the robot's skull.

Barely a minute had passed when Linebeck loudly cursed and practically flung Link's sword across the room. Damien only groaned. "I dunno what it is with Link's creator, deciding that his new artificial twink needed a human heart and brain. Where the hell do you get this shit for a robot, anyways?!" Linebeck kicked the leg of a nearby table. "Whatever. Who wants to tell him? Once I put him back together, I'm not touching him until we leave."

"I'll tell him," Midna decided. "And are you sure that you can put that stuff back? Looked like a pretty clean cut and there aren't any hinges or anything."

"I'll figure it out," Linebeck snapped. "Damien, let me see what you wrote down from off Link's back. Wait, no- I've got the key to the language, I'll give it to you and you can translate that stuff while I fix Link." He withdrew a piece of paper from his tools bag and threw it at Damien. He then pointed at Ghirahim and Midna. "You two can leave."

"We're curious about what was written," Ghirahim muttered. "I'll stay."

"Fine, just don't talk."

Damien flattened out both papers, and got to work, writing the translated passage on the back of the key. Linebeck slid the cut sections of the Sheikah material back into their places and sighed. The one in Link's head was easy to replace- Midna caught a glimpse of his brain and shuddered. Linebeck ended up using strong-smelling glue that he found in the workshop for both the brain and heart coverings. It only took a few minutes to set, and Linebeck finished patching Link up.

They huddled around Damien, who was furiously scribbling down the translated passage. He muttered the words under his breath as he wrote, and finally slammed his pencil down. "There's not much information, but it's definitally interesting," he annouced, stepping back. "_'My friend, my protector, my inspiration, the reason I can keep going; may you live and fulfill your role as the hero and my companion'_. Thoughts?"

"And then it just ends with Link's name?" Linebeck asked.

"Yes. That's it."

"It sounds like the creator knew that his robot would be the hero before he even finished making him," Midna pointed out. "He's called the hero."

"More mysteries," Linebeck muttered, incredulous. "I hate this shit."

* * *

"Another Yiga attack has killed five Sheikah, and people are moving closer to the castle," Impa said, shifting her notes. "Our exploration of the old, underground city has yielded nothing other than the statues of the hero back then, identical to the robot you trust. We have, unfortunately, spotted Yiga prowling around down there, as well. They don't appear to be tampering with things- as far as we can tell, there's little of worth down there."

Zelda sighed heavily. "Just as I feared, then. Would it be possible to move citizens down there if these Yiga attacks continue to get worse?"

"I doubt it. The Yiga are exploring the city with us, and they could corner citzens better down there. It's not safe enough. The best we can do is to station more guards around residential homes."

"How many citizens have been attacked or killed?"

"None," Impa responded. "Only Sheikah have been attacked." Zelda shifted in her seat, nodding slowly. "Is something wrong?"

Zelda shook her head. "No. How goes the hero's progress?"

Flipping to the last page of her report, Impa said, "He's managed to collect the pendant of Courage from the Rito, despite being badly injured. They seem to plan on stopping in Lurelin before proceeding to Goron City in Death Mountain."

"Wonderful. Any reports specifically on the others? The carpenter, perhaps? What was his name... Damien Fletcher?"

"Fletcher, Fletcher... ah. Found him. There's nothing of note about him despite his past surgeries and his current relationship to the engineer. Why?"

"Just curious," Zelda mused. "And the others?"

"Midna and Ghirahim are excelling in their magic and were the ones who returned to Rito Village with minor wounds. Linebeck was nearly killed during their last fight, but he seems to have recovered."

"What of their memories?"

"I... do not know about that aspect of them," admitted Impa. "Is there anything else you needed, my Queen?"

Zelda shook her head, getting to her feet. "No, that's all, Impa. I'll be in my room for the rest of the night." She turned to leave the dining hall.

Impa strode after her. "Of course. Do you want me to post guards?"

"Sure. Thank you."

"Of course." Impa paused. "You remind me of you mother."

"Do I?"

"Of course. You're tremendously similar to her, of course."

"Hm. I don't remember her very well. I despise her a bit since she had me hidden away before she died." Zelda glanced over her should, now making her way up the stairs. "Why bring that up?"

"N-no reason. I'll find some Sheikah to guard your room."

"Thank you, again, Impa. Let's hope that our hero succeeds."


	25. Matters of the Heart

The trip to Lurelin was short, the group filling Link in on what he missed, putting extra emphasis to the discovery of a human heart and brain within the robot. Linebeck and Damien paid little attention, choosing to stay separate from the others the entire way there; it was a silently message that their time in Lurelin would be spent in the company of only each other.

The Rito bid them goodbye and gave them more supplies like arrows and other tools such as more potion materials; they would've given them some extra money if Link hadn't cheerily told them that they already had a lot of money left over from the tournament. Linebeck had nearly shoved Link into the chasm beneath the village once he'd finished talking.

Lurelin was said to be a warm town, and the shift from a snowy tundra to a near-tropical forest to the seaside plains managing to catch the group off-guard in the middle of the night. The sudden warmth woke them and forced them to shed their Rito garb and put it away.

"I've never seen the ocean," Linebeck mumbled, peering out the side of the wagon. They were close to the town by now. "Have you ever been?"

"A few times. It's nice... I can't really describe it. Lots of seagulls, crabs can be found on the beaches, it's warm and calm and smells like salt and fish, as you'd expect. The sand is soft, but it gets everywhere. Personally, I don't really like the beach, but Lurelin is a very nice little town. Good seafood." Damien nudged Linebeck. "You'll like it. There isn't much robotic work since they don't deal with technology very much."

"What's the jewelry like?"

"Wh-what?"

"You need to get earrings," Linebeck muttered.

"I'll think about it," Damien laughed. "We'd need some money."

Linebeck shoved his hands into his pockets. "We could steal the jewelry. Save some money."

"It'll have more value if we actually buy it." Damien grinned and wrapped an arm around Linebeck's shoulders. "We don't have to use our money. Wouldn't hurt to take Ghirahim's personal stash or whatever."

"Let's take Link's. He wouldn't notice." Linebeck shifted away, pushing Damien's arm off his shoulders. "How cheap are the hotel rooms in Lurelin?"

"Rooms with one bed run about thirty per night."

"That's decent."

Link's money pouch was easy to steal, and they found enough money for a room and for extra spending. They reached Lurelin by mid-morning, a few hours before noon, having left Rito Village little over a day prior. Linebeck and Damien took their stuff and wandered into the village the moment the wagons stopped, abandoning the others.

Damien led the way, greeting people he passed, while Linebeck stared around at the unfamiliar houses. Most of them were circular and propped up a few inches off the ground with stilts. They were made of wood and straw, with curtain doors and glassless windows. The air was warm but not hot, and he could definitely smell salt and fish. Damien glanced back at Linebeck. "Keep up, okay? Might not seem like it, but you can get lost pretty easily here."

"I have a great sense of direction."

"Yeah, but you don't know any of the buildings around here." Damien took his hand. "Good sense of direction or not, you don't know what's around here."

With Damien now tugging him along, he paid more attention to his surroundings, avoiding people that he got close to. Most of the people in Lurelin were dark-skinned, either it be a tan or natural, with dark hair and loose clothing. Linebeck had no doubt that Ghirahim would probably try and track him down and spark the theory that he had probably grown up in Lurelin.

The hotel was decently sized, about three stories tall and up near the cliff at the north end of the town. Their room was on the third floor. Damien tossed his things on the bed. "Nice room, eh? Rooms are cheap since Lurelin is a popular town, and they get enough money from their fishing business. The beds are soft, too." He collapsed on the nearest bed. "C'mon, lay down with me."

Linebeck regarded the bed, then set his own stuff on the desk across the room. He strode over and sat down next to Damien. With a sigh, Damien grabbed Linebeck's shoulder and forced him to lay down next to him. "Are you alright? You've been quiet."

"Everything hurts. Phantom pains decided to show their ugly faces a few minutes ago, too, so give me some time." Linebeck exhaled softly. "This is... a really soft bed. How many times have you been here? I really like it here, so far."

"I get a fair number of requests from Lurelin, so I get a lot of opportunities to visit. I'm happy to hear that you like it here," Damien mused, shifting closer to Linebeck. "The beach is nice. Maybe we could take a walk along it at some point. The food's good, too, there are cool shops, it should be easy to avoid the others today. I'll let you decide what to do."

Linebeck frowned. "You're the one who knows what's around here."

"Well, we'll just wander around, and we can do what you think would be interesting. Is the pain going away?"

"Give it a few minutes..."

Damien nodded and got up off the bed. "Okay. Uh, the bathrooms in this hotel are really nice." Damien walked over and peeked into the small bathroom, pushing aside the shower curtain. "We don't have any soap," he shouted over his shoulder.

"Damn."

* * *

The sun was creeping up to the middle of the sky once they left the hotel with nothing much other than some money. Thankfully, the streets weren't very crowded, but Linebeck walked closely to Damien anyways. "Just to be careful," he muttered when asked about it.

The day was warm, but Linebeck refused to remove his heavy coat, to which Damien responded, "I wonder how you'd do once we get to Death Mountain?"

"I'm tempted just to stay at the base of that damned volcano," Linebeck sighed, glancing around. "Are there certain districts, or are shops just strewn about?"

"The general marketplace is lined up along the beach, while stationary shops can be found on every street."

"How about food?"

"Pretty much everywhere. Anything in mind?"

"I dunno. I'm not actually that hungry. What about you?"

Damien shook his head. "I'm fine."

Linebeck grinned. "Liar."

"You know my tell, don't you? What even is it?"

"You rub your left thumb and pointer finger together when lying."

"Yeah, well, my tell is obvious. Yours took me ages to figure out."

"What is it?"

"When you're not lying, your eyes will sometimes drift right, but they drift left when you're lying."

Linebeck raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Damn. You're a lot more observative than I first assumed. But, seriously, what do you want to get for lunch?"

"There's a cheap ramen place near here."

"Awesome. Lead the way."

The workers at the ramen shop greeted Damien with familiarity. It was fairly small, and they picked one of the few tables in the room. Linebeck leaned back in his chair, peering around. "What are you so wary about?" Damien asked, sliding the menu over to him.

"I'm just paranoid. I'm scared that the Yiga might've tracked us down here. I know you're not as scared of them, but I'm still worried. They didn't touch us in Rito Village, even after showing themselves to Link."

Damien's smile faltered. "You'll be fine. There's nothing to worry about. The Yiga... I doubt they'd try and hurt you."

"Me, specifically?" Linebeck smiled up at Damien, intending for his words to be a joke, but Damien flinched. "What?"

He blinked, then vigorously shook his head. "Nothing, nothing." Damien reached up and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm nervous too."

Linebeck shrugged. "Their target seems to be Link, so if we avoid him, I assume we'll be alright."

A nervous laugh from Damien sent a shiver down Linebeck's spine. Something was wrong, but he kept quiet. They ordered and got their food without much talking, but their conversation sparked back up. "The wood in Rito Village is pretty good quality, but I doubt that I'll be able to continue my work from here on out," said Damien, idly stabbing at the egg in his ramen. "In the meantime, how about you start another carving? Unless you'd rather not, obviously."

"That's fine. ...Leave the egg alone or eat it."

"I'm trying to cut it up."

"Just eat the whole thing in one bite, you coward."

"It's better to try and get a mouthful of a bit of egg, some noodles, a bit of the meat, and some scallions, then just the whole egg. Maybe with some mushroom, too. My ramen isn't as boring as yours."

"It's not boring."

"Yeah, like nothing but noodles, broth, and some meat is a decent bowl of ramen. It's like a physical representation of depression."

"That would just be noodles and broth alone."

Damien stuck his tongue out. "Whatever. It's a sad-looking bowl of ramen."

They paid and left soon after noon and ducked into a nearby shop when they spotted Link wandering around. "Last thing we want is him realized that we stole his money," Linebeck hissed, hiding behind a wall until he passed. "He didn't seem very happy with us after learning about his forceful surgery the other day, too."

"He's not as worried about having a human heart and brain as he should be," Damien muttered.

They shop they hid in was on the same street as a number of other shops. Linebeck and Damien explored each one, and Bellum even decided to show himself and make snide comments the whole while. Linebeck occasionally spoke to the AI, earning himself odd looks from passerby. They wandered around clothing shops and bookstores and everything in between, not finding anything worth buying but taking anything small enough that wouldn't be missed.

"Are you saving up money for anything?" Damien asked Linebeck at one point. They stopped between shops so that Damien could readjust his ponytail, and he inspected his hair tie while he was waiting for an answer. The soft breeze kept blowing his hair into his face and forced him to repeatedly tuck it behind his ear.

"No, I just like it," Linebeck sighed. "Need any help with that?"

"Hold my hair out of my face."

Linebeck complied. "Do you think you should cut it soon? It goes down to your shoulders."

"I'll think about it," Damien muttered. "I dunno how you can deal with long hair, 'specially since yours goes past your shoulders."

"It never gets in my face. Are _you_ saving any money up for anything?"

Damien nodded, gently nudging Linebeck's hands away and putting his hair in its usual ponytail. "Bottom surgery. I want all that shit removed."

"Does it suck?"

"Depends on who you ask, but I hate it. It's practically vestigial since I'll never use it. I'm about halfway to my money goal, though."

"Do you think it's possible to get something new?"

"Oh, I wish, but I don't think Sheikah tech can manage that." Damien paused. "Seems like they can give robots organs just fine, though... What now? There's a jewelry store somewhere around here, and I've been mulling over whether or not I should get earrings."

"What's the verdict, then?" Linebeck tugged gently on Damien's ears. "I'll pay for whatever you decide on."

"You'll end up paying with Link's money, so will it really count?"

"Shut up. I'm still spending money for you."

"I'm going to get some earrings. Probably just small stud earrings before I decide on anything else. Didn't you mention something about getting a new earring?"

"I'm considering it," Linebeck sighed. "Where's the shop?"

"This way, c'mon. They close pretty soon after noon, so I think we're running out of time."

They sprinted down the street and past a few others, and Linebeck felt like a small animal running through a forest, the people he passed almost like trees he was trying to dodge without losing momentum. He would've missed the shop if Damien hadn't pointed at it, since it looked the same as every other building and shop down the street.

As like with the ramen shop, the jewelry shop's owner greeted Damien. "Good see you again, Damien! If you're still interested, we recently got a new shipment of rings-"

"That's not what I'm here for this time," Damien hastily said, waving his hand.

Linebeck raised an eyebrow at Damien. "Rings?"

Damien's face reddened. "F-for future reference."

"Near future?"

"Distant future! If it were near future, then I would've talked about it with you. Besides, we're only 20. It's a bit early. I'm not stupid." Damien jerked his head around and rushed over to the section of the shop with earrings. "Here! They're cheap, c'mon, help me pick out a pair."

Linebeck sighed and followed Damien over to the display case. A number of small earrings were lined up inside, with the prices written out in front of them. They were fairly cheap, but the materials looked decent. Bellum floated down and hovered over each of the pairs, scrutinizing them. "They're good quality. The gems are real, just small."

"Why's this stuff cheap?" Lineback asked, making sure to keep his voice low.

"There are a lot of gem and mineral deposits around here, and they regenerate regularly."

"They..._ regenerate_?"

"Yeah, it's weird. Some kind of magic, similar to how monsters will sometimes reappear. That stuff happens all the time. I think the stuff at Zora's Domain was as cheap as it was because they have a lot of materials around, and, compared to their weapons, it's all easy to make and they're not as complicated."

Linebeck sighed. "We live in the weirdest world." He pointed at some of the earrings. "I think you should get ones with rubies. Red looks good on you. Or maybe some amber."

Damien silently nodded. "...What are you looking for?"

"Small rings. I just want a few more on my right ear."

"Those are just over there," Damien mused, pointing to a case a few feet away. Linebeck shuffled over to it, handing Damien the money.

Damien picked out a pair of amber stud earrings and waited to pay for them until after Linebeck picked his out. They paid and returned back to their hotel to haphazardly pierce their ears in the same way they'd done it in Zora's Domian, using a block of ice and a sewing needle. Linebeck's hands shook while he worked on Damien's ears, and he quietly apologized whenever he made the smallest mistake.

"You're right, the amber does look good," Damien said, admiring himself in the mirror. He tugged on his ears and smiled. "I feel bad for the humans with no Hylian heritage, the ones with rounded ears. They can't hear as well and they can't wear as many earrings, eh?"

"The Gerudo have slightly rounded ears," Linebeck said. "And the Gorons and Rito have no ears at all. Just holes, right?"

"I think the Rito sometimes like to pierce their beaks." Damien turned back to Linebeck with a faint smile. "I wonder how painful that is." He crouched in front of Linebeck and held the ice up to his ear. "You had it easy, only have to do two earrings. I doubt you would've gotten five if they weren't so cheap. I'm surprised you didn't get more."

"I know my limits," Linebeck sighed, tilting his head to the side. He winced when Damien made the first hole and distracted himself by playing with the small pile of earrings. "Your hand's pretty steady."

"I'm a carpenter; my hand has to be steady." Damien made the fourth hole and paused. "Do you think you're getting more comfortable with being touched?"

"I'm comfortable with you, but that's it. I tolerate Ghirahim more than the other two, though."

"Well, I'm honored," Damien purred, wiping away the bead of blood welling up in the fifth hole. "You can put the earrings in now."

While Linebeck carefully put them on, Damien backed up, leaning against the desk. "So. What now?"

Linebeck shrugged. "I don't want to do anything else now. How about we hang around in here for the rest of the day?"

"We gotta take a walk on the beach during sunset, though," Damien mock-whined, kicking at Linebeck's legs.

Linebeck rolled his eyes with a fond smile. "Then we'll hang around here until then."

"Nice. What are Bellum's thoughts?"

"He thinks I should do some maintenance on my prosthetics, so I'll do that."

Linebeck set out all his tools on the desk and shrugged off his coat. He rolled up his left sleeve, and let Damien loosen his arm while he disconnected his right leg. Both metal limbs were laid out on the table in front of him, and Linebeck rubbed his eyes with his hand.

"Have you considered keeping both arms while working on your leg?" Damien asked, fighting to keep a sarcastic edge out of his voice.

"Shut your mouth." Linebeck waved him away and got to work on his arm, focusing on fixing what remained of the bend in the metal. He usually preferred to work in silence with Bellum's occasional comments being the exception. "...Actually, let's talk for a little bit."

"What about?"

"I dunno," Linebeck muttered. "I just want to talk to you."

Damien sat on the edge of the bed. Linebeck could feel him watching him during the silence. "...When did you learn to play poker?"

"Why that?"

"Just curious."

Linebeck shrugged. "Well, I dunno. I remember wandering into one of the city casinos a few weeks before meeting you and catching on really fast, like I'd done it before."

"How often do you cheat using Bellum?"

"Pretty often. Makes winning easier, but I'll make sure to make a mistake to keep suspicions at bay. Like anyone could prove it. I have to avoid the casinos, though, because it's easy to get into a fight, and I'm not good in a fight."

"If I went with you, that wouldn't be a problem."

"You're not very intimidating," Linebeck sighed, glancing over his shoulder to catch Damien rolling his eyes. "Lined up with that Ganondorf guy, based off Link's description, I bet you'd look like a kitten."

"I actually met Ganondorf one time in the city, not even realizing that he was the leader of the Yiga. He's a pretty muscular guy, real intimidating, but he was pretty nice when I asked him for directions. I didn't see him around town after that, and then I learned that he was involved in the Yiga."

"I'd like to meet him," Linebeck mused. "But we might have to end up killing him, huh?"

Damien shifted loudly, catching Linebeck's attention. He said nothing, keeping quiet.

"...Have I ever told you about Bellum's appearance? Do you know what looks like?"

"Refresh my memory."

"Get me some paper."

Linebeck drew out a quick sketch of Bellum, which Damien grimaced at. "He looks worse than most of the monsters you can run into."

"Good question. Meeting him after waking up with no memories was honestly a bit terrifying and got better when I realized I couldn't touch him. Well, I couldn't touch anyone."

Linebeck set his tools aside and picked his arm up, getting to work on reconnecting it to his shoulder. Damien hovered near him, but Linebeck managed on his own. He tested his fingers out before getting back to work on his leg. "...Who fixed my arm while I was out cold? I was told that it was practically bent at a 90-degree angle, but it was mostly fine when I woke up."

"Revali and Ashei did that," Damien explained. "They fixed it as long as the healers let them, which wasn't long, hence why it wasn't fully fixed."

Linebeck silently nodded, and no words were exchanged between them until he finished fixing his leg. With both prosthetics back on, Linebeck stood and stretched. "...It's been, what, three days since I woke up?"

"Two and a half, I think."

Linebeck nodded and sat down on the bed next to Damien. "Wake me up when it's late or something. I'm going to try and get some kind of sleep."

With insomnia, Linebeck doubted that he'd actually sleep, but he knew he'd appreciate the rest. His coat and vest folded up on the bedside table and his boots on the ground, Linebeck waited for a moment, resting against the pillow. "What are you going to do?"

Damien shrugged. "Dunno. Wouldn't Bellum wake you at the right time?"

"Maybe." Linebeck laid down with a sigh. He was quiet for a few seconds, then turned onto his side, not bothering with the blanket. Damien laid down on the bed next to him, and Linebeck could tell he was reading due to the flutter of pages. Damien ended up leaving the room altogether as Linebeck drifted off, still dimly aware of his surroundings. Damien didn't return until nearly three hours later, and Linebeck pondered just what he'd been doing.

* * *

Bellum wasn't the one who roused him, but it was Damien, gently nudging his shoulder. "Hey. It's pretty late now. The sun's setting. Get up."

Linebeck groaned and pressed his face into the pillow. Damien dragged him off the bed. "You're so mean," Linebeck mumbled, forcing his eyes open. The blinds were closed, but he could see orange evening light through the cracks at the edges. He rubbed at his face and sat up against the bed. "Give me a second."

Damien waited for him outside the room, and they left after Linebeck tugged the rest of his clothes back on.

Not many people were outside when they walked through the town, but a few fishermen lingered around the fireplaces scattered along the beach. A few seagulls flew above the sea, occasionally calling out. Linebeck kicked at the sand at the edge of the beach. "This looks a lot softer than the shit you see in the junkyard."

"It is, although it tends to get everywhere." Damien took Linebeck's hand, and they walked closer to the water.

The sea was peaceful, gently reaching out at the beach and withdrawing, taking whatever sand it grabbed with it. A few crabs scuttled around and fled if the two Hylians got too close. Linebeck idly watched them, then slowly glanced out at the sea. Damien watched Linebeck's expression for a few moments, finding it to be blank. "Well?"

Linebeck blinked, then looked down at Damien. "...What?"

"Any thoughts?"

"Uh." Linebeck gazed back over at the sea. "It's nice. I... I like how there's... nothing. There's no real destination that you could see. Just the horizon." He tilted his head to the side. "Maybe I grew up in Lurelin. That works, right?"

"Doesn't explain anything about your height," Damien playfully responded.

Linebeck just sighed. "If I grew up here, then you'd think someone would recognize me, right?"

"You're pretty recognizable."

"Midna and Ghirahim have their excuses. Ghirahim's an ancient sword spirit slash demon or whatever, and Midna's supposed to be from a whole different dimension. They're a matter of _how_ they're here. But... you'd think It'd be easier for me, right? I'm well-known in the city, and I'm sure word has spread to other towns, but it's like I've never existed here before."

"...Maybe you're from overseas? I mean, that coat of yours, you woke up wearing it, right? Looks a like it belonged to a sailor at some point. Maybe your family was from overseas, and you somehow got stuck here."

"Doesn't explain my prosthetics or my engineering and robotics expertise," Linebeck mumbled. "I suppose my scars and the loss of my limbs could be marked up as being from monster attacks or something, but it's all strange."

Linebeck went quiet, and Damien noted a slight shift in his breathing- a little quicker and shallower. "Am I bothering you?"

Linebeck let out a shuddering sigh and sat down in the sand. "I... I have dreams, like Midna and Ghirahim and Link. Dreams where... I get flashes of memories, right?"

Damien sat down with him, listening with his head tilted to the side. "Midna told me that she had one soon after the music hall incident- a long, blurry string of events linked together by usage of shadow-walking or teleporting. She couldn't recognize people, but it was a memory. Ghirahim has similar stuff, but mostly when he's awake- brief flashbacks, he calls them. Link has dreams, too, but with less meaning. They always talk about how happy they are, getting bit and pieces back, even if it's bittersweet." Linebeck rubbed at his face. "And all I get are nightmares. Have I ever told you what shows up in my nightmares?"

"You've mentioned them, but you've never actually told me what happens."

"Just... Every time I wake up, it's in a cold sweat, screaming. I don't think any of my memory fragments have been positive. I have dreams where I'm running from something that keeps snapping at my heels, and I'm always surrounded by laughter. I have dreams where I'm being held down, with something pressed down over my face, or with pain following soon after, or with the feeling of someone covering my mouth or clawing at my clothes."

Linebeck paused, exhaling slowly. "I think... I think the closest thing I have to a positive memory is probably the clearest of the bunch. It's cold and I'm standing somewhere where it's windy, and it's the middle of the night. Something's clutched in my right hand, and my clothes feel ripped, and I'm breathing heavily- but there's a sense of calm. I always see someone in the distance, in front of me, shouting or speaking or something. I just remember them looking very... white. White hair, white clothes... sometimes I think that the person looks like Ghirahim. But in this dream, there's always a sense that something horrible, something devastating just happened to me, but that now, everything's over. The dream... it always ends with me stumbling over to the person."

An icy feeling of numbness inched through Damien's body. He shuddered, staring at Linebeck- his expression hadn't changed aside from the misery that now clouded his eyes. Neither of them dared to open their mouth. After a few minutes, Damien slid his hand over, reached out enough to let his fingertips brush against the back of Linebeck's hand. He seemed to flinch away, then slid his gloved hand into Damien's. The robotic hand was thin, and Damien could feel the rods and wires as if it were nothing but bones and tendons, but it was warm like a living hand and fit almost perfectly into Damien's despite being larger.

They sat like that for almost ten minutes, fingers intertwined until Linebeck awkwardly cleared his throat. "I didn't mean to kill the mood like that, sorry."

"You're fine," Damien sighed. "Don't apologize, you haven't done anything wrong." He got to his feet, tugging Linebeck up with him.

Without a word about the prior conversation, they continued their walk on the beach, doing their best to keep the conversation topic off of the quest at hand and the lost memories. The sun went down, and as moonlight washed over the seaside village, they reached the end of the beach. Linebeck shifted from foot to foot, glancing back at the town, but Damien started walking to the woods at the edge of town with an odd urgency. "Damien? Aren't we going back?"

Damien paused and glanced back at Linebeck. "Just follow me, okay?"

Linebeck gritted his teeth and jogged after Damien. The woods were fairly sparse and reached from the edge of town to the cliffs. "Damien, what are you doing? Is everything alright? Is something-"

"Something's wrong," Damien hissed, tugging Linebeck behind a larger tree. "I thought something was weird around the end of our walk; I saw a small group of people watching us."

"Yiga?"

"Not Yiga, I'm pretty sure they're Sheikah." Damien scowled. "Let's hang out here for a bit, just to be safe."

With a hesitant nod, Linebeck crouched at the tree's roots. "Bellum, did you notice anything?"

The AI popped into existence in front of Linebeck. "I saw the people that Damien are talking about. They weren't from Lurelin."

"You're sure?"

"They were Sheikah, all five of them."

"Damn it," Damien hissed. "Linebeck, you have your knife, right?"

"...Y-yeah..."

"Good." Damien straightened up, taking something out of his pockets. "We'll stay here for five more minutes and we'll leave if nothing happens, alright?"

"What if something does happen?"

"Then we'll have to fight, probably."

Linebeck leaned against the tree trunk and shakily drew his knife. Damien crouched down by him, placing a steady hand on his shoulder. "Hey. Can you promise me something? No matter what happens, please know that I'd never betray you in any way."

The blood in Linebeck's veins turned to ice, but he nodded. Though Damien's words troubled him, the warm feeling of trust still remained, melting away any doubt. He must've had a very good reason to tell Linebeck something like that. The two of them huddled close together, listening for any abnormalities among the rustle of the leaves, the distant murmur of the sea, and their own breathing. Nothing popped out. After seven minutes, Damien let out a long breath and stood up. "I think we'll be safe-"

Five Sheikah leapt from the trees and lunged at Damien. They wore the traditional Sheikah armor and brandished curved-bladed swords. In the moment they landed on the ground, Damien held up the items he'd taken from his pockets- two slim pieces of crimson paper- and ripped them in half, tossing the halves away. The halves seemed to burn up and turn to ash almost immediately after they left his hands. The Sheikah swung their swords, their blades digging into the ground where Damien was just a moment before. The paper amulets used by the Yiga fluttered to the ground where he had just been.

Linebeck's mind was racing so fast that he didn't even notice the Sheikah turning their attention to him. He scrambled back and practically fell against the tree, shakily holding his knife up. A red blur tackled one of the Sheikah, tumbling into the others. Linebeck scrambled away, recognizing the red shape as a Yiga soldier, sickle in hand, wrestling with the Sheikah. A second Yiga leapt out from behind the tree, hooking their sickle into another Sheikah's shoulder.

The remaining three Sheikah backed up, assessing the new fighters, one of the Yiga already having managed to knock out their opponent and now sprinting at the three, their companion quickly joining in. Two of the Sheikah defended themselves from the Yiga, the remaining Sheikah breaking off and redoubling their efforts to attack Linebeck. They slashed at him, the blade clanging loudly against the knife, throwing the smaller weapon from Linebeck's grip. He brought his arms up to defend himself, but no second attack came.

Linebeck timidly glanced back up, finding that the Sheikah was being choked from behind, the handle of an axe being forcibly pressed against their windpipe. The Sheikah went limp and collapsed, and Damien lowered his axe, peering down at Linebeck. "A-are you okay?"

Linebeck feebly nodded, but stared at the axe, recognizing the slightly curved handle, plastered with Yiga amulets, and the head of the axe, the blade serrated along the edge. Damien dashed away once he was sure that Linebeck was safe, prying one of the two Sheikah aside and gracefully knocking them out with a well-aimed kicked to the jaw. Even from where he was, a few yards from the fight, the pop was audible to Linebeck as the Sheikah's jaw slipped out of place.

The final Sheikah, realizing that they were alone, twisted away from the Yiga and bounded away into the forest. Linebeck scooped up his knife and stumbled to his feet and sprinted after the Sheikah, leaving Damien and the Yiga in the dust. He was slowly gaining on the Sheikah, but he was already running out of stamina. Thinking quickly, Linebeck flipped his grip on his knife and flung it at the Sheikah. The knife turned handle over blade in the air and landed in the Sheikah's calf, buried up to the handle. The Sheikah cried out and staggered to the side, their sudden halt allowing Linebeck to catch up. He pounced on the Sheikah, pinning them to the forest floor and fighting back the urge to vomit and he pressed down on them.

Damien caught up quickly, holding a length of rope. His axe was nowhere to be seen. "Thanks," he muttered, binding the Sheikah's hands and feet. Linebeck leaned against a tree, watching Damien sit the Sheikah up and punch them in the face, breaking their nose with a clear and echoing crunch.

Linebeck crouched next to Damien, peering at the Sheikah. They looked just about the same as the others, white hair tied up in a bun and their nose and mouth covered. As they croaked out two words, their voice came out as feminine. "...Yiga... scum..."

Damien rolled his eyes. "Insult me all you want. My subordinates have already tied up and captured your friends and should already be on their way to our hideout. Now, then, do us a favor and talk. What are you doing here?"

The Sheikah coughed, leering furiously at Damien. Gently, Damien tugged the Sheikah's mouth covering down. Blood was streaming freely from her now-crooked nose, leaking into her mouth and staining her teeth. She tried to bite at Damien's fingers, then let out a wet huff. "W-we're here... on Zelda's orders... obviously."

Damien shoved her against the tree. "Why. I want to know why."

She laughed. "I suppose... telling you would ruin my mission... hm?"

Linebeck tilted his head to the side and decided to join the interrogation, pressing the tip of his knife just under her left eye. "I'm sure you'd gladly die for your cause, but I wonder how much pain would be needed for you to break?" He pressed the knife harder against her skin, and a small bead a blood was visible as he pulled away.

There was now undeniable fear in her eyes. "Damien... Damien Fletcher is your name, is it not?" she asked, looking back at Damien. "We... were told to... attack you... or Lancrester. See how... you would respond. You... responded as we hoped..." She coughed again. "Now we know... the identity... of one of Ganondorf's generals."

"That information won't matter if you're dead," Damien spat.

"Heh... if none of us return, then she'll... she'll know that you really are Yiga."

Linebeck scored a deep cut in the Sheikah's cheek, but she barely flinched. Damien had a steely look in his eyes, silent. "You don't know the level of cunning we Yiga often utilize, do you?"

The fear in the Sheikah's eyes melted into terror. "She... would know if you sent... an imposter... She'd know..."

"Would Impa know? Or one of the other Sheikah higher-ups? I think we'll test our luck." Damien stood up, glaring down at her. "I'm not a big fan of killing, despite the fact that I have done it before. I'll give you the honor of seeing our hideout, and I'll leave your fate up to Ganondorf."

One of the two Yiga dashed over- Linebeck assumed the other had tied up and transported the other attackers- and grabbed ahold of the Sheikah, hoisting her up and over their shoulder before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Linebeck stood, rooted to the spot, staring at the tree trunk, his mind racing, trying to process what he'd just seen and discovered. Damien sighed heavily, and turned away from Linebeck, head down. "...Sorry about... that. You should probably go back to town."

"I'm not going without you," Linebeck retorted, wiping the blood off his knife. He was shaken, to say the least, but he wasn't about to turn on Damien or let him see that his hands shook.

Damien clenched his fists. "You should, though. Now that you know what I am."

Linebeck tilted his head to the side. His hands stopped shaking as he put his knife away. "You think I'm mad that you're Yiga? If anything, I'm confused. The thing I'm mad about is the fact that you never told me."

"I couldn't tell you," Damien whispered, his voice barely audible. "If I could, I would've. And recently, with everything going on... I thought you'd hate me if I told you."

Linebeck sighed and walked up beside Damien. "You're an idiot if you'd think I'd hate you for something like this. I even told you that I don't think the Yiga are as bad a people say. I just... It's a bit of a shock, y'know? I don't really know what to think right now, but I don't hate you. I promise."

Damien's head snapped up, his eyes meeting Linebeck's. "But you _should_ hate me," he seethed, unable to mask the quiver in his voice. "I've been lying to you for so long now, I've ordered attacks on your friends and on the towns of Hyrule, I've _killed_ people- The only real redeeming quality that comes to mind is the fact that we're combating the corrupt part of the Sheikah and trying to kill Zelda and halt her plans.

"Right now, the only option for me is the leave and hope that you won't tell the others anything. If there's even a chance that there was a sixth Sheikah, or if my being here as a Yiga put you in further danger, then I need to leave. I went along with you to protect you and... and because they told me to act as a spy, but my presence will only cause more problems as things escalate. Link will either need to choose to continue to be ignorant and fight for Zelda or turn his back on her and fight for the Yiga, and either way, he's going to turn on me, and, to an extension, you.

"If he sides with Zelda, then I'm leaving. If he learns about who I am, then he'll think you've been in on it, and attack you despite everything. If he chooses to trust us Yiga, then he'll know that I've been lying and spying on them, and he'll lose his trust in me and you. Whatever happens to me will reflect to you, as much as I'd like to say it won't. My being involved is just going to lead to your death at some point."

Damien went to turn away again, but Linebeck clamped his hands on his shoulders. "Don't leave, please. I need you. If you leave, I'll follow you. I'll track you down, dammit. The next Yiga guy we come across is getting his ass beat until he tells me where I can find you. Running away is usually my job, remember? Not yours."

Damien smiled weakly. "R-right... Listen. I have... a lot to tell you if you want the whole story. I'd rather not do it in this forest." He tilted his head to the side, doing his best to convince both Linebeck and himself was he wasn't on the verge of tears. "How about we get some food? We still have some money left. I know a place at the edge of town that should still be open."

The restaurant they found was still open, and they managed to get a table in the corner of the shop. They sat next to each other, waiting for their orders of food, warily peering around the room. Only a total of five other people was inside the restaurant, not counting the two workers. Once sure they wouldn't be overheard, Damien started with, "I didn't originally know that Link was a part of your group. I knew that you had a robot and stuff, but I didn't know you were involved until I saw you until dropping off the note to Link."

"The note- oh, yes, that."

"Yeah. So, I had to take a few days off and recover after realizing that you were part of the group being tricked by Zelda, and I set up my plan of going with you guys. I did my best to not outright say that Zelda was the real enemy, but I also had to make sure to plant the seed of doubt. I think I've succeeded with you and the others, but Link is dangerously loyal to her."

Linebeck nodded. "Yeah. Can you explain what Zelda's doing? I've always known that something's off, but I don't know what it is."

"Well, people have been disappearing, I told you. Us Yiga have known for a long time that she's been ordering kidnappings of people who have been vocally against or suspicious of her and tricking her Sheikah by telling them that the kidnapped people were Yiga. She's also been trying to get the hero on her side because he could then destroy the Yiga, and she would then have the power of the Master Sword on her side. We don't know her master plan, but there's still something wrong."

Damien flinched as they were served their food, and idly picked at it until Linebeck continued the conversation. "When did you join the Yiga, and why didn't you tell me?"

Hesitating and taking a bite of his food, Damien sighed. "About three to four years ago, maybe even five years. I know that I joined them before I had my shop and before my surgery. I ran into Ganondorf and he offered me the job and gave me a month to accept. I was very scared at first, and worried that he would kill me if I said no, but I ended up accepting after doing my homework. Things turned out well, it paid well, and people turned out being much more kind that I expected.

"I ended up rising in the ranks pretty quickly, accepting help in learning to use an axe, and the other generals helped me set up my shop and pay for the top surgery. Things between us and the Sheikah were getting worse and worse and I was scared of the Sheikah discovering me when I met you. The others knew and were really supportive and gave me tips on what to do and when I should've told you I loved you. 'Course we ended up doing it at the same time. But after getting to know you better I made it my goal to get better at fighting to protect you, and I was careful to pay attention to the rumors about you."

Linebeck slowly nodded. "Now uh... should we tell the others?"

Panic flashed in Damien's eyes. "Don't. We'll reveal the truth about the Yiga and everything in due time."

A waiter walked by, and Damien and Linebeck turned their attention back to their food. They waited until they were done and had paid to keep talking. The hotel was nearby, so it wasn't going to be a long walk.

Damien yawned. "You... don't hate me?"

"I never could. I love you, okay?" Linebeck paused, then quietly asked, "Have you ever killed someone for me?"

"Yeah, definitely. Had to knock off a few muggers when they got too violent."

"That's kinda hot, not gonna lie."

Damien scoffed. "I think your moral compass has been destroyed beyond repair."

"Didn't think I had one in the first place." Linebeck jumped at the sound of a door being slammed in the distance and cursed to himself. "People are so loud at night."

"You're not used to it 'cause you usually live in the middle of nowhere, huh?"

"Ghirahim is so damn loud in the middle of the night. Midna has the decency to keep it down, but she's loud, too. You don't snore, do you?"

Damien shrugged. "I wouldn't know."

Linebeck quietly shut the hotel room door, checking the lock. It was nearly midnight when they returned. He yawned and shut off the desk lamp and watched Damien pace the room. "Are you going to get any sleep?"

"That Sheikah fight still has me anxious," Damien admitted, collapsing onto the bed. He worked his jacket off and tossed it on the floor. Linebeck rubbed at his eyes and removed his coat, getting on the bed next to Damien. "Did that shake you up, too?"

"Well, yeah, but I'm a little more confused about how those two Yiga showed up."

Damien sat up. "Oh, right, I should've explained that. You saw those two red papers I held up at first, right?"

Linebeck carelessly dropped his boots and vest on the floor. "Yeah. And they burned away when you ripped them."

"Right! So, each of us generals have a few of those papers. When we rip one, it will summon a Yiga. They had dried blood belonging to the Yiga in question on them. The soldier that is summoned is one that has pledged their loyalty to us, and ripping the paper sends a signal to warn them of the paper being ripped before they are immediately transported to us. It took a while to get working." Damien grabbed at the blankets and pulled them up to his shoulders. "There are a lot of other Yiga things like that, but..." he yawned and stretched. "...It's a bit late, huh?"

Shutting his bedside light off, Linebeck nodded. "Yeah. It's late. Are you to get your own lamp?" Damien shook his head and smiled faintly as Linebeck scowled and reached over him. He fumbled with the switch, but darkness eventually covered the room. There was a muffled shifting as Linebeck slipped under the covers.

For a few minutes, he listened to Damien's breathing. It was slowed, but he wasn't sleeping just yet. Linebeck wrapped the blankets tighter around himself, finding that the room was surprisingly cold. Damien tugged the blankets back over to his side. They fought for the blankets for a few moments before Linebeck gave up and shifted closer to Damien. "Why is it so cold in here?" he asked, his voice low.

Damien let out a long breath. "Don't know. Don't care." He wrapped his arms around Linebeck's waist and tugged him closer. "Tell me if you're uncomfortable."

There was a fleeting feeling of discomfort that rushed through Linebeck's body, but it subsided quickly. He nuzzled into the crook of Damien's neck, now pressed up against him. "...Hey. You were there at the Spring of Farore, right. I think Link mentioned you."

"I was there, yeah," Damien murmured. "Why?"

"I remember... Link saying something about Ganondorf talking about each of you. About how you all had someone you cared about."

"I remember that."

"I'm just..." Linebeck sighed, relaxing fully. "Just thinking about what was said about you. I feel like I should've realized the connection." An unexpected calm washed over him as Damien quietly laughed. "Yeah... I suppose it is a little funny."

* * *

Link strode quietly down the hotel hall. The day before, Damien at least had the decency to mention where they'd be staying, and eventually told him the room. Midna and Ghirahim were waiting at the wagons, but they wouldn't leave until an hour later. Still, it was nine in the morning. They should be up, right?

Link passed room after room before coming across Linebeck and Damien's. He hesitated, then gently knocked on the door. There was a moment of silence, then a muffled shuffling, and Linebeck answered the door, tousling his own hair. "What? We're getting ready, what do you want."

Peering past the engineer, Link spotted Damien packing up his things. "Sorry. We thought you two were still asleep or something. We're leaving in an hour."

Linebeck nodded and began to shut the door. Link grabbed ahold of his forearm, immediately regretting it. Still, he held on despite the clear discomfort on Linebeck's face. "We got a message from Zelda."

Linebeck raised an eyebrow. Damien glanced over at him. "Did you?" he asked, his voice low and edged with worry.

"Yeah," Link said, nodding. "She said that she'd sent a bunch of Sheikah here to see if we were being tailed by the Yiga. One of them returned earlier this morning and reported that we're not being followed." He awkwardly let go of Linebeck's arm. "I... thought you'd want to hear that."

Much to his surprise, Linebeck laughed. "Oh, that's good. I was almost worried that the Yiga were among us or something." The smile disappeared. "Now piss off. We'll meet you guys at the wagon when we're ready."

The door was slammed in Link's face, and the robot heavily sighed. He hadn't expected Linebeck to laugh about the message, but Link could only assume that he was relived. Walking down the hall again, Link grinned to himself. He supposed it would be a bit funny if there really was a Yiga spy that they still hadn't noticed.


	26. The Road to Goron City

A smooth stone caught Link's eye. It sat near a small dent in the ground that likely held water at some point. He bent and picked it up, adding it to the ones he was already carrying. Satisfied with had he'd gathered, Link turned and made his way back to the campfire.

Everyone was silent as he created a rock circle around the flames. They'd left Lurelin the day before and were now on their second day of traveling to Death Mountain, well over halfway there. They hadn't expected that the land between Lurelin and the volcano would be so barren. They were practically back in the wasteland now.

Link stepped away from his handiwork, grinning down at the neat circle. He sat down with the others, and Ghirahim got up to cook the meat they'd brought. No one spoke. Midna tugged at a tuft of dry, dead grass. Damien and Linebeck ignored the others, sitting the furthest away. Ever since leaving Lurelin, they'd been a bit livelier. Linebeck had made the offer to create Link some new clothes when he got the chance, since Link's current clothes were starting to fall apart, having been through battle and exploration.

And so, the first day of travel was cheerful, everyone's spirits lifted by the day of rest and relaxation. The mood only became somber as they were led back into the wasteland, spotting old ruins of what looked to be small towns, and having run into small groups of hostile bokoblins.

The heat of the wasteland, having been forgotten, returned and dampened their spirits. Midna hid in the shade, sometimes melting into the shadows to cool down. Ghirahim was adamant about adapting to the heat, and even shadow boxed in full daylight. Damien kept busy with carving statues or reading, and Linebeck fiddled with whatever projects he was working on. When asked about it, he admitted that he was almost finished with four more tools, and showed off one of them, looking to be a spear of sorts.

Ghirahim cut up the meat once it was done and handed everyone their lunch. Link poked at it and ate it slowly, making sure he was the last one done. He smothered the flames with some dirt and stared around the wasteland. Shading his eyes with a hand, Link could see Hyrule City in the distance. How long had it been after that tournament? Midna called for him to get back on the wagon, and he turned and clambered back on, and they were back to moving along the path.

* * *

"Death Mountain is a volcano," Ghirahim said, sitting on the floor of the wagon. "The heat will most likely kill us if we're unprepared. Buying a surplus of fireproof elixirs is the only way to survive if we don't want to buy bulky armor." Ghirahim jabbed at finger at Link. "I dunno what you'll have to deal with."

"I think he'll be fine," Linebeck interjected. "His temperature regulation should save him. I don't think that a potion would work on him the way it works on us."

"I can make some potions on the way there," Midna offered. "We've got the equipment, and I picked up some materials in town." She glanced over at Linebeck and Damien. "What did you two do? I didn't see you at all in Lurelin."

Damien stuck his tongue out. "None of your business."

"Well, I can tell that you both got some new earrings. Other than that, nothing. I won't pry."

"You already are," Linebeck muttered. "But thanks. Anyways. Aren't the Gorons a touchy-feely bunch?"

"Yeah, they're a very friendly bunch. If you tell them about your contact avoidance, they'll be fine with it. You're going to have to come with us anyways."

Link sighed loud enough to get everyone else's attention. "What?" Ghirahim asked, his voice harsh.

Link flinched. "Sorry. Didn't mean to be so loud." He crossed his arms and peered out at the wasteland. "What do you think Zelda and the Sheikah are doing? Her note didn't say anything about the progress with the fight against the Yiga. And I wonder why she sent people to watch us."

"She's probably nervous that her precious hero might get killed," muttered Linebeck, a surprising amount of venom lining his words. "Let's hurry up and get this last pendant and then the Master Sword and finally ask her what the hell is going on. She still hasn't mentioned what it is that the Yiga want, has she?"

Link frowned. "She mentioned something about them having to do something with some kind of evil... we know they want to kill Zelda and destroy the Sheikah and Hyrule, right?"

"What do we need the Master Sword for, then?" Damien asked. Ghirahim's eyes widened, and he nodded in agreement. "Isn't it explicitly for sealing away evil? Like, evil, evil? Not just bad dudes? What's the point of getting the Master Sword? We already know you're the hero since you have the Triforce of Courage."

Link clenched his fists. "I... What if the Yiga are planning to use some kind of evil like that? Maybe Zelda thinks that we'll need the Master Sword at some point, if not right now."

"Perhaps," Midna sighed, cracking her neck. "Maybe she wants us to wipe out the monsters. Either way, she should tell us after Link gets the sword."

"Let's talk about something more fun," Ghirahim declared, crossing his arms behind his head. "At this point, I don't really care if Link gets the sword or not. He can kick ass almost as well as I do with a sword."

"He's got other skills," Linebeck muttered. "For one, he's more durable than the rest of us. Aside from his robotic advantages, he's skilled and perfect for the role of hero. I don't really care what he ends up doing, though. I'm just in this for whatever rewards I get."

"No surprise there," Ghirahim sighed. "Your interest in the tournament prize is what got us involved in all of this anyways. I personally want my memories back and to become the swordsman around. Of course, I don't have far to go to achieve that latter goal. The memory goal is shared by all of us, right?"

"I don't want my damn memories back," Linebeck growled. "You guys can go ahead and leave me out of that one."

"I want my memories back more than the rest of you combined," declared Midna, arms crossed. "I'm from a whole different dimension- my memories are probably the most interesting out of the rest of you losers. Even you, Link. The memories of a hero should be cool, but I bet they get boring. I can do magic and shit; Link can just swing around a cool sword." She glanced sidelong at Ghirahim. "I'll bet your memories are cooler, too."

"No question about that," he sighed with a nod. Link rolled his eyes, and Ghirahim scoffed. "Don't give us that look! You're just a robot. For all we know, you were alive for, like, a few months in order to be the hero."

Damien snickered. "That'd be funny. You get your memories back and it's all just a week. Hell, maybe it was just a few days."

"You guys suck. I bet I've got some really cool memories."

* * *

Once at the base of Death Mountain, Midna halted the mechanical horses and the others set up another campfire. Night fell, chasing away the day's heat. Link huddled by the fire, helping Ghirahim make a meager dinner. Midna paced and stretched, keeping watch for monsters. A bold bokoblin snuck close to the wagons, but Midna thrust her spear through its chest before it got too close. Damien was carving something out of his remaining wood, and Linebeck was finishing up his newest projects.

They ate the small meal and went back to what they had been doing. Ghirahim polished his sword while Link watched, taking mental notes. "Hey, you two." The two of them looked up at the sound of Damien's voice. The carpenter held out a pair of wood objects. Link took one and recognized it as a wooden sword, albeit hastily and crudely made. "You had some trouble back in that music hall, yeah? You should get more practice in."

Ghirahim looked his sword over and shot a glance at Link. "Sounds like a good idea." They trudged out to the fire, facing each other from a few yards away. Midna paused in her patrolling to watch and Damien sat at the edge of one of the wagons; Linebeck was apparently still busy. Link inhaled slowly and lunged at Ghirahim. The demon swiftly brought up his sword to block the attack and parried, aiming for a blow to Link's shoulder. It was dodged and Link batted away a second attack.

They kicked up dust as they moved around, and Link blinked rapidly to keep it from irritating his eyes. Ghirahim seemed to have no issue with the dust and flung a number of daggers Link's way. They ended stuck in the wooden blade and disappeared. Link blocked or dodged volley after volley of knives, Ghirahim summoning then faster and faster each time, his eyes locked on Link and catching every little movement. At one point, Link managed to snatch one of the daggers out of the air and flung it back at his opponent. Ghirahim cursed and slashed at it, causing it to shatter as if it were glass. "You're getting cocky," he hissed, halting the knifes and sprinting back towards Link.

The moved around the campfire as they fought, sometimes coming dangerously close to the flames. Link searched for an opening- whenever one showed up, it always closed too fast for him to move. That, or it would be too risky to attack. Finally, Link gritted his teeth and stomped on Ghirahim's foot. His sparring partner stumbled for a moment, hissing in pain, and it was enough time to allow Link to swing and give him a solid smack on the jaw. Ghirahim stumbled back, holding a hand to what would most certainly end up being a bruise. He glared furiously at Link, but kept his mouth shut.

"Link wins that round," Midna declared. "I'd fight the winner, but I don't think I'd stand a chance. Damien?"

"I'd do better in a hand-to-hand match."

"I'll try that," Link admitted, setting his sword down. Damien shrugged and got up.

As it turned out, offering to spar using hand-to-hand combat with Damien was a mistake. The carpenter had him on the ground and cursing a growing ache in his side in five seconds flat. "Maybe stick to swordsmanship," Damien said, the smile unmistakable in his voice. He helped Link back up to his feet and rubbed his shoulder. "Didn't mean to kick you so hard. I'm used to self-defense, so I guess I went overboard."

Link coughed. "You probably would've ruptured something if I were human."

"I mean, you do have organs, they're just well-protected," Damien reminded him.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot."

A collective groan was shared by everyone around Link. "You need to realize that that means there's something wrong with you," snapped Linebeck, hopping off the wagon with a few items in his arms. "You'd think that somewhere with all that information in your head, there'd be something about how robots shouldn't have living human organs."

Midna tilted her head to the side. "I take it you're done with those projects of yours?"

Linebeck nodded, dropping his things on the ground. "Mhm. All four of them."

"You work too fast," Ghirahim mumbled, still rubbing at his jaw. "Is any of that for me?"

"Nope. You get nothing. With these, I've almost used all of the stolen blueprints, not counting the ones I took from Kakariko."

"You stole Sheikah blueprints in Kakariko, too?" Link stared at Linebeck, astounded and a bit disappointed. "You're lucky they haven't hunted you down and arrested you."

"This isn't my first time breaking the law," Linebeck retorted, leaving Link to desperatly hope that he was joking. "Anyways, Midna." He crouched down and withdrew what he'd shown them earlier, looking to be a spear. "This is yours."

Midna took it from his hands and inspected it closely, frowning. "There's no spearhead."

Linebeck sidled over and pointed at a thin wire suspended a few inches from the shaft. "Slip one of your hands under that," he instructed. "And then put your other hand here." He pointed at the end of the wire, connected to the shaft by a circular section. Something looking like a trigger protruded out from the opposite side of the spear's shaft.

Now holding it the correct way, Midna held the spear out. She flicked the trigger and the wire snapped down, the parts it was connected with slipping down at an angle. The wire pulled on something up in the spearhead, and three thin sections fell and folded down, pointed straight out from the spear. Neon blue blades appeared on them, much like Link's sword. In the middle of where the sections connected to the spear was a small circular opening, where shimmering blue flames erupted from. Midna yelped and held the spear away from her body, expecting those flames to shoot out, but they instead remained in a tall teardrop-like shape, slightly quivering. Midna swung the spear around. The flame-like spearhead barely shifted.

"Oh, good, it works," Linebeck exclaimed. "That spearhead is made of the same material as the blades, but since it's not constrained to any material, it shoots from its origin like fire. Here, lower it..." Midna tentatively lowered the spear, and Linebeck slowly moved his hand through the spearhead. It allowed his hand through, shifting almost like water. He then poked the tip, which didn't change. "You can really only hurt people with the tip, but the other blades will also do damage. You can tweak their angle with the wire here." He lifted the wire just a little, and the blades slightly angled up and closer to the flame. "Cool, huh? The trigger with snap the wire to the extremes, either deactivating the spear or pulling the blades out as much as they can go. You'd have to change the blade angles manually."

Midna shakily deactivated the spear. "This is... How have we never seen Sheikah warriors using these?"

"Who knows?" Linebeck mused. "I know they have plenty of the odd materials, too. Maybe it's because they have no way to power it- no, that's not it... I should ask Robbie or Purah if I run into them again. Doubtful, since they seemed busy in Kakariko..."

"What else did you make?" Link asked, walking over, peering at the pile. "Looks like more than four things."

"I was able to make multiple of one of them."

Link rolled his eyes. "You're extremely competent, we know."

"Thank you for recognizing my talent. Two of the projects here are for you." Linebeck kicked at the pile, dispersing some of the objects. He bent over and picked up one of them, tossing it at Link. "You get a new sword."

Link took the folded weapon from Linebeck's hands and looked it over. The bottom portion of the grip had a thin rectangular button, which he cautiously pressed. The blade portion folded out, showing itself to be two different sections, and the usual segmented blade appeared. Unlike his other swords, this had only one edge, but looked sturdier and sharper than the others. It extended a few inches beyond the material it was connected to. The pommel at the end of the handle had a small hole it in, presumably so that he could easily clip it to his belt. Link swung it around a few times, finding it to be pleasantly light. "Thanks."

"These are for you, too," Linebeck muttered, holding out what looked to be gauntlets. Link put away his new sword and took the gauntlets, staring at them. They were made of the same material as the swords, with blue and orange lights shining from cracks in the material. From the looks of it, a gauntlet would cover his entire forearm, while the glove part had a single slab of material that would cover the back of his hand. The rest of the glove was made of a green cloth material. The slab was connected to the rest of the gauntlet by a red rope tied at each end at a hole and run through two more holes in the gauntlet. "Well, try them on," Linebeck suggested, irritation creeping into his voice.

LLink sighed and slipped them on, finding them to be surprisingly cool inside. More wearing them, he could easily tell that the mark on the back of the hands was reminiscent of a Sheikah eye, in blue light. The orange lights were in the section of the armor at his elbow, while the part in between was smooth. "They fit really well," he admitted.

"I know all of your measurements, of course they fit. Those are part of an entire suit of armor, which I should have finished shortly. I'm not making the helmet because it looks stupid, so you can figure out your head armor situation on your own." Linebeck ignored the dirty look that Link shot him, crouching down and picking up the last items, which were now obviously arrows. "These were supposed to be daggers but notes on the blueprints signified that they would work better as arrowheads," he said, holding one up. The handles of the daggers were tied securely to the ends of the arrows. "This button here," he explained, gently pressing one of the lighted sections at the circular end of the handle, "activates the blade." Parts folded out, and a small blade appeared. "The button is really sensitive, and they stay active until the button is pressed again, so it'd be easy enough to activate them while they nocked and pulled far enough back."

"When do I get something?" Ghirahim snapped.

"Well, the only other weapon is essentially a chainsaw, so I doubt you'd want that. If anything, that would suit Damien better. What, do you want me to make you a sword like Link's?"

"I'd like to be unique when compared to him," Ghirahim scoffed. "I'll stick with my own equipment. Be ready for if I commission you to make something, however."

"I don't do commissions for free, so you better have the money to cover what you want when then time comes around."

Damien collected the two training swords and peered around. "Will we do another sparring match? Link? Ghirahim? Rematch?"

Link shook his head. "No, I'm good for tonight."

Ghirahim snatched one of the swords from Damien and swung it around a bit. His pointed the tip of the crude blade at Linebeck. "How about we have a little sparring match? I'd like to see just how pathetic you are."

"You don't need to fight me to figure that stuff out," Linebeck muttered. "I'd rather not." He strode past Ghirahim and Damien, dropping his new arrows into the wagon.

He turned, only to have the other sword shoved in his hands. "Just one round," Ghirahim insisted. "I promise not to break any of your bones."

Linebeck scowled but took the sword. "Fine. One round." He gripped the handle with two hands and positioned himself across from Ghirahim. Link watched from the wagon, and Midna crossed her arms with an amused expression. Linebeck repeatedly shifted his grip on his sword, frowning at it. He seemed uncomfortable with the amount of space it allowed for his hands.

"And... we start!" Ghirahim shouted, startling Linebeck. He sprinted at him before he had to chance to properly ready himself, and the engineer barely had time to bring up his sword and block Ghirahim's attack. The force behind the blow knocked his sword aside, and Ghirahim struck him on the shoulder. Linebeck cursed loudly and swung at Ghirahim who easily dodged it with a playful flourish.

Fury kept Linebeck going while Ghirahim practically danced around him, dodging every wild attack. Linebeck hissed as Ghirahim landed a blow on his neck, and stumbled back. Ghirahim smirked, holding his sword up defensively, and ran at him again when Linebeck didn't attack. Finally, Midna called the match off once Linebeck seemed liable to whip out his knife and stab Ghirahim. Tossing his sword back to Damien, Ghirahim ran a hand through his hair. "I've experienced better resistance from a straw dummy. Still, I'd say your reflexes may be better."

Linebeck trembled where he stood, his sword still tight in his grip. He glared at the back of Ghirahim's head. With a furious roar, Linebeck flung the sword at Ghirahim with all his strength, and the carved wood slammed into the back of Ghirahim's head with a sharp crack. The demon stumbled forward, falling to his knees, and brought his hands up to the back of his head once blood started to ooze into his hair.

Damien had to hold Ghirahim back when he whipped around and tried to lunge at Linebeck again. The engineer rolled his eyes and stumbled past him. "Fair's fair," he muttered, crawling back into the wagon. "Do we have any ice?"

"There's some in the last carriage," Midna shouted. She paused, then looked over at Damien. "You should probably go and help him. I'll deal with Ghirahim."

Damien nodded and clambered into the wagons. Link scooted to the side to let him pass and peered down at Ghirahim, who seemed to have considerably calmed down. "You didn't need to actually hurt him."

Ghirahim shrugged. "Yeah, I know. He doesn't have much talent with a sword, so I guess I took advantage of him. Midna, you wanna test out that spear of yours?"

"No, not now. We should all get some rest. Link, get Ghirahim a bandage for the back of his head. I'll put out the fire and all that."

* * *

Most everyone slept while Midna and Linebeck stayed up to make copious amounts of fireproof potions. "You don't need to worry about the lizards; they're already dead," Midna muttered, setting out the materials and pointing at the jar of fireproof lizards. "Just help by handing me ingredients, okay?"

"Why do you throw the whole lizard in? Don't you just need the scales?" Linebeck opened the jar and tugged one of the dead lizards out. "Seems like a waste to throw the whole thing in. Why not just skin it? The scales have the fireproof quality-"

Midna snatched the lizard from his hand and tossed it in the pot. "Don't question it. Besides, what would we do with a skinned lizard?"

"I dunno. I wouldn't mind cutting it open and poking around in it."

"Weirdo," Midna muttered, tossing in other ingredients. "How are your bruises?"

"Much better, actually. The ice really helps. I'm gonna be stuck with these for ages, though..." Linebeck crossed his arms, sitting back as Midna worked on the potions. "Sometimes I think about having Ghirahim teach me to properly use a sword, but then I think about how much time would be lost from working on projects and such. I'm pretty happy sticking with the option of you lot protecting me."

"You've got your knife and now your bow," Midna mused. She held her hands over the potion, speeding up the process with ambiguous magic, as usual. "It's better than when we first woke up. Those monsters we ran into that first night really gave us hell, huh? Good thing Ghirahim and I found those broken pipes. They made good swords, huh?"

"And I woke up with my knife," Linebeck muttered. "That's the only thing we woke up with that wasn't clothing or anything else connected to us, right?"

"Yeah. And that building we were in was sunken a few feet into the surrounding junkyard. Looked pretty worn-down, so I wonder what we were doing there."

"Bellum's theory is that we were researching what happened 200 years ago."

Halfway through filling a bottle with potion, Midna paused. "That's... an interesting theory. Then how did we get our memories wiped? Old tech?"

"Maybe not?" Linebeck shrugged. He paused, glancing to his side. Midna kept quiet. If Bellum was talking, it was best that she didn't accidentally interrupt. "Bellum wonders if maybe we'd gotten really close to the truth and that we were attacked and had our memories wiped."

Midna grimaced. "Bit of a dark theory, but if so, why weren't we just killed?"

"Hmm. Good point." Linebeck peered at the thick gray liquid in the pot and backed off as Midna filled the bottle. "Not looking forward to drinking this stuff."

"Oh, yeah, I heard it tastes awful. Leaves a cold feeling down your throat and everything. Thanks for your help."

"I didn't do anything," Linebeck mumbled glancing out the side of the wagon. "But I'll take the appreciation."

* * *

Midna lined up almost forty potions in the morning and divvied then up among the group. Link inspected the potions as everyone else took their share, pulling the cap off of one bottle and sniffing the contents. An acrid stench filled his nose, and Link struggled to re-seal the bottle as he coughed. "Goddesses, this smells like poison. You have to drink this?"

"I've had this before," Damien muttered. "It's horrible, like some kind of nasty medicine. It works wonders, though. Still, it's probably the worst variation of potion." Damien glared at his pile of potions and sighed. "Well, we've gotta choke 'em down anyways. I'd rather not burn to death once we cross the threshold halfway up Death Mountain."

There was an outpost at the foot of the mountain- it was deserted, looking to be a small town of stone buildings. They left the wagons behind one of the larger buildings and brought with them the equipment they knew wouldn't burn. Before they set off, Ghirahim slowly asked, "What about our clothes? Would that burn?"

A silence fell over the group. Nearly a minute passed, and Damien cleared his throat. "I've been here a few times- clothes only burn if you literally get set on fire."

A relived sigh was shared by everyone, and they were off, trudging up the mountain path. It was steep, but stairs were carved into the stone to make the journey easier. Short metal fences were at the edge of the path, but they weren't there to keep travelers on the trail. Anyone was allowed to go off the path and explore as much of the mountain as they wanted, at their own risk. Midna made a point to spear and collect any fireproof lizards they managed to come across.

The heat intensified as they made their way up the path, and Link stopped with the group as they downed their first potion. Based off of their reactions- Ghirahim gagging and panting like a dog, Midna coughing furiously, Damien crouching by the edge of the path, looking like he was going to vomit, and Linebeck prompting throwing his empty bottle back down the path with a long string of expletives- Link was glad that he didn't need to drink the fireproof potions. Instead, he waited until everyone had most likely gotten the taste out of their mouths before continuing.

The first sign of intense heat was the rising temperature, of course. The air became thick with heat, making it slowly harder to breath. Other monsters became visible. Most of them red and brown colored to match the landscape. What caught Link's eye were the lizalfos that would spontaneously breathe fire. No civilized creatures were seen as they trudged up the mountain but passed a sign that told them they were on the right track and that they were only a few miles from Goron City.

The path leveled out, and a sign let them know that it was now just a straight shot to the city. Link amused himself by kicking a rock along the way. A few times he lost track of it and it ended up behind him, but Midna situated herself behind him and would kick the rock back in front. Linebeck and Damien were the farthest in the back, talking in hushed tones. Ghirahim hummed to himself, gazing around at the cliffs that rose up at the edge of the path. Goron City was supposed to be located in a cavern where the ceiling opened up to the sky, allowing natural light. Link assumed that it would then be in one of the smaller peaks of Death Mountain.

It was midday when they needed to stop for both a quick meal and for the humans of the group to choke down another potion. Link took his time eating his apple. Choosing to eat before taking the second potion was probably a good idea for everyone except Damien, who seemed to have a weak stomach, once again retching at the side of the path. Link offered a sympathetic smile at them all, but it didn't seem to help. Ghirahim even scowled at him.

Link's body cooled itself to battle the oppressive heat all around him. He curiously told Midna to touch the back of his neck, and she reported that it had felt like touching ice. "You're lucky," she sighed. "The potions keep us from bursting into flame and the like, but it doesn't do very much against the heat."

"I have ice arrows," Linebeck suddenly mused, like he'd just realized it. He dug through his quivered and handed a few out. Link stared at the light-blue arrowheads, shaped to look like three-edged snowflakes. They were made of a material that would burst apart if hit hard enough and freeze what was near it. Link took one for himself, hoping to lessen the strain on his body's temperature regulation.

They reached the entrance to Goron City soon after noon, and a friendly Goron guard waved them over. Link was comforted by the sight of the Goron, despite the armor and heavy-looking weapon he carried. The Gorons were the strangest of the main races of Hyrule, being large, round creatures with rocks on their backs, mostly just clothed in a simple loincloth. (Link doubted they actually had anything to cover up, the Gorons seemed to be a very androgynous race, choosing male pronouns and titles as their culture was very focused on brotherly bonds.)

"Hello," Link said, greeting the Goron with a friendly smile. "Please tell me we've reached Goron City. We don't really want to keep going through this mountain."

The Goron beamed. "Don't worry, you're here. We've been expectin' ya, too! Got you five a few rooms at our inn and everythin', perfect for a bunch of little guys like you. We don't get many Hylian visitors, but we always make sure to be ready!"

There wasn't time for any kind of confusion; the Goron herded the five of them through the tunnel into Goron City. The immediate hospitality would've been suspicious if it had been from anyone but the Gorons, but the Gorons were famous for being a kind tribe, despite not being the brightest. It was a far cry from Revali's cold introductions or the strained hospitality of Zora's Domain.

The tunnel opened into Goron City, which was enclosed in a massive dome of rock and crystal that opened up to the sky at the top. Sunlight filtered in, and lamps and pools of lava lit the city, illuminating stone and iron huts. The entire city was on a slight incline, leading up to a larger stone hut up against a cliff with numerous angular carvings in the rock. Zora's Domain's palace-like town showed off beautiful arches and silver that oozed elegance, Rito Village's suspended huts and bridges and detailed clothes echoed past tradition and allowed for change, while Goron City was reminiscent of every aspect of the Goron's lifestyle. The Goron guard gave them a moment to gape, then led them to the inn.

They crossed metal bridges that sat over bubbling lava and walked past smithies and shops and pottery dens and Link found himself much familiar with their culture than the others' despite having only been there a few minutes. Midna was staring in awe, and he could see that Ghirahim was awkwardly glancing around. Linebeck had his goggles up over his eyes, looking extraordinarily uncomfortably, his hand held by Damien, who looked more or less indifferent to his surroundings.

None of the other Gorons greeted them but offered up friendly grins and waves. Other guards were stationed at by the paths, wearing similar iron and steel armor and each carrying what looked to be a heavy, metal club. Everything looked calm and peaceful, but Link started noticing banged-up weapons and armor the further into the city they got. A few Gorons were seen rubbing bruises or other wounds. "Was there a battle recently?" Link asked, looking up at their guide.

"You'll have to ask Daruk or Darunia about that when they get back."

"Where are they now?" Ghirahim demanded, arms crossed.

"They're busy. We're almost at the inn, now. You don't need to pay anything while you're here."

The inn was large and a bit cooler than the rest of the city. The Goron guard showed them to their room and left with a cheery farewell. "Didn't even give us his name," Midna muttered, tossing her bag on the slab of rock that was apparently a bed.

Link kicked at his rock. "This is what we have?"

"Cloth and anything similar would burn up," Linebeck said. "Though I don't know what the deal with our clothes and bags is."

"I think it's just not hot enough to burn it," Damien explained. "I'd appreciate a mattress, though."

Ghirahim shrugged. "If you ask me, it shouldn't be that bad. Linebeck, you should be used to this kind of stuff since you seem to pass out on the floor so often."

Linebeck tugged his goggles off and rolled his eyes. "I'm going to check out the city."

"I'll come with," Damien quickly added.

"Can I come, too? I really want to check this place out." Link smiled at Linebeck and Damien, trying not to come off as creepy or like he was begging.

"They'll consider it," Bellum snapped, appearing right in front of Link and startling him. "Give them a few minutes."

"I almost forgot about you," Link breathed. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize, only one person can actually talk to me. Before you showed up, obviously." Bellum glanced back at Linebeck and Damien, then at Midna and Ghirahim. "I doubt you lot will have any problem with sleeping on rocks since you guys have had to deal with that rickety wagon these past few weeks."

"It'll be a strange reprise," Link admitted. "I'd still rather have an actual bed."


	27. Goron City

Link jogged after Linebeck and Damien, cursing himself for falling behind. Goron City was a tangled web of streets and buildings, and there were no maps to be found. The plan had been just to explore the city a bit, and to see if there were any problems to be solved. Link caught up with them and let out a short cough. "Could you guys maybe walk a little bit slower? I'm not that tall."

"Aren't you fine since you're a robot?" Damien asked. Link opened his mouth to respond but shut it with a huff. "You're the one who asked to come with us. You don't need to trail behind us to find out if the Gorons have problems."

"Well you two might cause problems," Link retorted. "Someone stole my money back in Lurelin, and you're my prime suspects."

"Pickpockets exist," Linebeck sighed, "And you might've just... lost it. We didn't take it. Maybe you should get better at keeping an eye on your money."

Link stuck his tongue out at them. They trudged up a slight incline, passing small huts that they assumed were homes. Many of the Gorons inside were nursing wounds that ranged from dark bruises to deep-looking gashes that oozed blood. Link frowned and quickened his pace, catching up with Linebeck and Damien. "Something's wrong, can't you guys tell?"

"They've noticed," Bellum said, hovering just over Linebeck's shoulder. "Kinda hard to miss an injured Goron. Something's definitely wrong, more so here than with the Zora and Rito. I think you've got your work cut out for you this time. For now, we might as well wander around until the leaders of the Gorons come back from whatever they're doing."

"Who're the leaders of the Gorons?" Link asked, quickening his pace to be adjacent with them. "Is it more than one?"

"It's two brothers," Damien answered. "though they're apparently not related. I... don't know how relations work with the Gorons. Those who the Gorons consider to be close friends and allies are considered brothers to them."

Link nodded slowly. "That sounds interesting. Definitely a far cry from what the other races had. It seems they're dealing with a problem as well. I hope their leaders will let us help. Everyone here has been friendly so far. I wonder what that guard's name is..."

The three of them stopped at the edge of a cliff overlooking most of the city. Much to Link's surprise, he could see a few other Hylians wandering around, as well as a few Gerudo. No Rito or Zora, though, but he supposed that made sense- a Rito would overheat while a Zora would dry out. "I didn't think too many people would visit this city," Link mused. "Especially since we didn't see many visitors in Rito Village or Zora's Domain."

"Ore is abundant around here, so it's people willing to put in the work to get rich," Linebeck explained. "Other towns have ore deposits like that, but the Gorons do nothing with the actual gems- so it's easier to get them while other towns take the gems to sell or use."

"Don't the Gorons eat rocks?" Link asked, glancing around.

"Don't ask us, you're the one with all the information," Damien sighed. "I've only been here a few times."

"You've been here more times than me, then," Link retorted. He peered back down at the group of Hylians walking up the path and crouched by the edge of the cliff. "The other towns trade with Hyrule City, like Zora's Domain and Lurelin trading fish and minerals and Rito Village trading herbs and supplies. I assume that Goron City would also trade stone and gems, right?"

"I think the rumor is that Hyrule City's been trading with Goron City less and less," Linebeck said. "Something about their being a lot of Yiga involvement around here." Link balked and abruptly leapt to his feet. "There were no reports of them being hostile," Linebeck loudly added. "The reports actually implied that the Yiga were helping protect travelers and the Gorons as well as working with them."

"That's not possible," Link snapped. "The Yiga... they're bad, remember? They attacked us and the towns and are currently attacking Hyrule City and trying to kill Zelda..." Link trailed off, seeing the half-amused expressions of Linebeck and Damien. "What?"

"Nothing," Damien chirped. Linebeck looked away. "But we don't agree with you, is all. I've been here a few times, like I said, and the Yiga really do look out for travelers. They saved my life from a bunch of lizalfos during my first trip here."

"Well, they're probably planning something," Link muttered. "We can't trust them, remember? They tried to kill us in Kakariko!"

"If they wanted you dead, they would've killed you when you were alone in that shrine to Farore," Damien pointed out. "They haven't bothered with us for a while, either."

Linebeck glanced around for a moment, fidgeting, then murmured something to Damien, who nodded silently. Link could hear Linebeck quietly whisper, "Thanks. Just making sure." More loudly, Linebeck said, "I'll head back to the inn. Nothing's really caught my eye." He gently kissed Damien on the cheek and murmured something extra before walking off.

Link watched Linebeck trudge back down the path before turning his gaze on Damien. "What were you guys whispering about?"

Damien raised his eyebrows. "None of your business."

"Hey, I'm a part of this group like you guys, too! I have a right to know!"

"Yes, well, it's not a matter between the group, just the two of us. I don't care enough for you to share with you." Damien smiled. "But it wasn't anything that you should be worried about. If you'd like, we could find someone to tell us where Daruk and Darunia are."

"...Who?"

"The two leaders of the Gorons."

"I thought you said-"

"Who cares what I said? Let's head back to the inn and wait for the leaders to return from what they've been doing. It's too hot out here."

* * *

Link was restless as he waited in the inn room. He wanted to go back outside and run around and find one of those Yiga and demand to know their plans. But he was stuck inside with the others. He decided to go back through that history book that they'd stolen. Ghirahim wordlessly handed him the book, then went back to inspecting his daggers.

Midna looked half-asleep, laying on her own 'bed', occasionally watching the others. For once, Linebeck and Damien were separate, Damien idly working on a wood carving that somehow hadn't burst into flames, and Linebeck was pacing the room in the middle of a quiet conversation with Bellum. Link laid on his side, facing away from everyone, idly kicking his feet while he read, more interested in the pictures than the words.

Link came across an interesting page in the history book, near the end. It was a brief article on the Yiga Clan's evolution, starting as a vicious, cutthroat cult of murderers and thieves dedicated to dismantling the Sheikah and resurrecting an embodiment of evil, then to a more foolish shadow of itself, until it slowly died away into a covert rebellion, hiding from public eye and operating with a vague goal in mind. Link shuddered, wondering just how dangerous the original Yiga Clan had been.

He set the book at the edge of his bed and watched Damien for a few minutes. He deftly cut away small chunks of wood, turning the block over in his hand, carving different spots up. The wood shavings fell onto a small pile on the rock, slowly growing larger as what Damien was carving became more apparent. It was a small, detailed carving of a cat. With a sigh, Link rubbed his face and looked away. That carpenter made no sense, seemingly supporting the Yiga, coming along for weak reasons, always harboring some veiled emotions behind a smile. It almost seemed like he was only honest to Linebeck, and even then, Link wondered how much Damien kept to himself.

Midna caught him staring and got off her bed to sit by him. "It's rude to stare, but I can't tell if you're looking at his carving."

"Something about him is weird," Link mumbled. "Have you ever thought that? Like he's keeping something from us?"

Midna shoved Link. "Everyone has secrets. Still, I'm personally curious about why he's sticking with us even though he can't continue his work. I understand sticking with us to support Linebeck, but he hasn't... contributed. He's in danger he doesn't need to be."

Link frowned. "He's nice and all, but there's... something. Damien's a nice guy, I won't deny it." He tilted his head to the side. "He seems to know a lot."

They were quiet for a few seconds, the rasp of the knife against the wood being the only thing to fill the silence. Midna finally sighed. "Maybe you're just paranoid. If Damien had something against us, he'd have had plenty of opportunities to act on it." She got up to leave and paused to hear what Link said next.

"Linebeck seems to be in on what Damien knows, too. Maybe that means that it's nothing too dangerous. At the very least, if Damien did want us hurt, he'd most likely leave Linebeck out of all of it, or give him an upper hand compared to us."

"Now's not the time to spread rumors of a traitor," Midna hissed. "Maybe after you get the Master Sword, eh?"

The Goron inn keeper told the group that the Goron leaders had returned, and they made their way up to the highest point of the city. Ghirahim was once again saddled with the task of carrying their shared bag, filled with more fireproof potions if needed. Link found himself grateful that Ghirahim rarely whined about that task.

"No one's told us their name," Link finally stated as they neared the top of the city.

"No one has needed to," Damien responded. "We haven't asked, and I don't see why strangers should bother giving us their name." He jogged up a few paces and grinned at Link. "Maybe you're just nosy, and that's why you're confused about it." Link scowled at him as he smiled smugly.

"Let's not start an argument," Ghirahim snapped, getting their attention. "We are about to meet the Goron leaders, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry, I almost forgot," Damien sighed. "Their names are Daruk and Darunia, by the way. I've met them once or twice. Nice guys. Touchy-feely at times, I'll be sure to tell them about your aphenphosmphobia, Linebeck. Other than that, you guys are alright with the occasional spine-cracking hug, right? They're pretty strong."

"I've never really liked the Gorons," Linebeck muttered. "I don't care much for all that honorary fraternal shit. Seems like a big waste of time to me."

Midna stifled a short laugh. "You don't have to like it, just don't be rude."

The highest building in the city was surprisingly modest, just a bit larger than most of the residential houses, presumably to house two Gorons rather than one. Link made sure to hold his head high, deciding to now carry himself in a more dignified manner now that he was becoming more known as a hero.

It was surprisingly cool inside the building, and Link spotted a number of dimly glowing runes carved into the walls. He'd never seen runes before, as far as he knew, but recalled some in the Zora prison. A stone lamp in the middle of the room made it easier to see that it was mostly empty. Two doorways led to two different rooms, dim light streaming from inside as well. Link was the only one who decided to walk over to the lamp; the others lingered by the doorway.

There came a muted shuffling from both rooms, the sound of metal being placed on stone. Link backed away from the lamp, suddenly worried that he might get in trouble for touching it. He quickly clasped his hands behind him, shuffling back a few steps. Two Gorons, the leaders, Link assumed, walked out into the main room. Unlike most of the other Gorons, they had manes of white hair, the one on the right with more hair than the other. The older of the two, Link guessed. He offered a friendly smile to them.

"You must be Link, right?" the right Goron asked, smiling brightly. "We've at lot 'bout you from the Rito and Zora. You're a pretty reliable lil guy, huh?"

Link shrugged meekly. "Well, I'm the hero, so it's my duty." He held out a hand. "I'm Link. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Link. You can call me Daruk." Daruk took Link's small hand in both of his larger ones, shaking his hand hard enough to make the robot worry about his shoulder popping out of place.

The other Goron stood forward and snatched up his other hand, shaking just as vigorously. "And I'm Darunia. We're the Goron chieftains, my brother and I." Link slowly rolled his shoulders as Darunia kept talking. "'Course, we're not really brothers, but we may as well be. You little guys are here for our Pendant of Power, right?"

Link nodded. "Yeah. Of course, we wouldn't just take it- we know it's a treasure among the Gorons. Right?"

Daruk nodded, crossing his arms. "Of course. We'll gladly give you a chance to earn it, though. We've had some problems, if you haven't noticed. We're not going to talk around the problem like the Zora or the Rito might- we need your help."

"I'm sure you saw that some of our people are injured," Darunia added. "I am personally hesitant to accept help from you little Hylians, but you've got a reputation and the trust of the others."

"I also have an alliance with the queen," Link added. Neither Gorons reacted in a way that implied surprised or that they were impressed. He could've even sworn that he heard Bellum snicker before fizzing back out of existence. "Has she offered to help? Have the Sheikah?"

Daruk shifted. "Those Sheikah guys don't bother with us. They'll help the other races, but they don't help us for some reason or other. They helped in the past, but once them Yiga guys started showing up around here, they just cut themselves off from us."

"Are you having problems with the Yiga?" Link exclaimed, almost excited. "Are they attacking people? Killing them? Stealing? If you want, I'll happily clear them out-"

"Those Yiga guys have been helping us with monsters," Darunia interjected. "We are wary of 'em, yeah, but they've been all kinds of helpful." He crossed his arms, fixing Link with a steely gaze. "I understand why you'd hate 'em, but it seems to us that they're not all bad. They've been helpful with our most pressing problem."

Link gritted his teeth. He did his best not to show any anger and frustration, fighting to keep a blank face, to not show the extent of his hatred. It didn't make any sense- the same people with the intention of dismantling the Sheikah and killing the queen of Hyrule were at the same time protecting the Gorons? As far as he was concerned, they were no better than the bokoblins, despite the passive meeting at the shrine to Farore. Still, he kept quiet and forced himself to hear the two Goron leaders out.

"Death Mountain is an active volcano, and it has been for generations," explained Darunia. "Our city is protected, since it's incased in stone, and the hole in the top is too high for lava to reach. Normally, around the times of eruptions, we're given a time of peace as the monsters are driven away. Recently, we had another eruption, but the monsters didn't stop attacking- and now, they're constantly attacking us. It's a near-constant siege, at this point, with short periods of peace."

Link frowned. "The monsters are working together to attack you?"

"Yeah, that's what it seems to be. They keep coming down a certain path from the volcano itself. The Yiga have been helping us keep them from reaching the city. If you hate the Yiga, then you will have to set that aside if you want to help us."

Link let out a long sigh. "I'll gladly help you, but just keep the Yiga away from me. Do you know where the monsters are coming from? Have you tried cutting off the source?"

"We have tried," Daruk answered, "but we can never get close enough. They seem to come from a cave at the base of the volcano, but it's a small opening. There are always some monsters lingering around it and protecting it, so we know it's important to them."

Link shifted his weight, thinking for a few moments. He hadn't been in a large-scale battle before, but, looking through his reserves of information, tactics and blurry images surfaced. "I'd be happy to help you fight, and I might be able to get close to that cave," he offered. "We could all help, if you'd let us."

Daruk glanced past him, eyeing the others. He seemed to be sizing them up, and a smile broke out across his face when he spotted Damien. Darunia must've spotted the carpenter at the same time, and they both walked over towards him. "Damien, brother, we didn't think that we'd see you again so soon!" Daruk declared, taking the sheepish-looking man's hand and shaking it. "Didn't you say you had work to do in the city, and that you'd be gone a while?"

Damien responded as Darunia shook his hand next. "Yeah, well, things came up, and I ended up following this lot around for a bit. I've told you guys about Linebeck, right?" he asked, gesturing to the now confused and anxious engineer.

Daruk grinned at Linebeck, who flinched away when he spoke. "Yeah, we've heard about you. Damien has mentioned you a few times- he's a trusted brother of ours, of course. We might have some work for you, and we'll spread word and let our people know to avoid touching you."

Darunia patted Damien on the shoulder once and nodded. "We Gorons can be a bit touchy-feely, as you little Hylians like to say, but we'll be careful."

Linebeck grimaced, not bothering to hide his clear distaste. "...Alright... What... kind of work do you have for me?"

"We've had a number of injured warriors recently," Daruk began, his smile melting away and his expression turning somber. "Some of our brothers' injuries have been worse than others. And, well, not many of us are good with robotics and such, y'see?"

Linebeck nodded slowly. Link spotted Bellum hovering by his ear, peering around, presumably whispering.

Daruk scratched at his head. "So, the problem is that we've got a lot of Gorons missin' arms and legs." The Goron paused, and Link could see a new gleam in Linebeck's eye. He looked more interested as Daruk continued. "We were thinkin', since Damien here tells us that you have some prosthetics of your own, and that you might be able to make some, that you could make some new arms and legs for the Gorons missing them."

Linebeck hesitated, frowning at Daruk. Darunia shifted, then asked, "It's alright if you can't, we've asked both travelers and some of the Yiga if they can help, but-"

"Of course, I can help!" Linebeck snapped. "I'm the best damn engineer you'll find, even counting those Sheikah. 'Course, it'll cost you, since I'll need materials and time and all that..."

"We can pay you with excess gems our miners come across," Daruk decided. "There's an empty house near here, but it's large enough for you to work and live for a few days. We can give you materials and all that. If you want, we can provide the stuff so that Damien can be with you as well-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Linebeck interrupted, waving his hands. "I'll take it, just make it so I can get started as soon as possible, got it?"

Link zoned out of the brief conversation, mildly disgusted, and looked over at Midna and Ghirahim. Midna looked a bit perturbed, arms crossed, while Ghirahim actually looked interested. Link sidled over to them. "At least he'll be too busy to have a chance to be rude."

"He'll be dealing with injured Gorons and, let me tell you, his bedside manner is borderline hostile. Damien will hopefully do all the talking." Midna rolled her eyes. "We don't really even need the money. What we won from the tournament should have us set for at least a full year."

"Let him have his fun, that way we can prepare for helping in that fight," Ghirahim declared, an amused smile on his lips. "I expect Damien will fight, too, and I bet that Linebeck is going to want to test out those new arrows at some point" He looked back over at the conversation, which was winding down as Linebeck was clearly doing his best to leave.

Eventually, Damien jumped into the conversation and provided a window for Linebeck to back out and shuffle over to the others. "You're going to fight those monsters with the Gorons, huh?" he asked in an undertone, scrutinizing Link. "At least this time you got straight to the point rather than screwing around for a few days."

Link rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I doubt you'll even help, so you might as well leave now."

"No, I'll help, I want to test out those arrows. There wasn't much written about them in the blueprints, only that they could also be used as daggers. I will probably spend the rest of today working, though, so, don't worry, you don't have to look at me all day."

Link rolled his eyes and swept his gaze back over to the Gorons as they asked for him. "We'll gladly help you," he said. "When's the next battle supposed to be?"

"Sometime tomorrow," grunted Daruk. "It's a daily problem. The quicker we can stop it, the better. I trust that you little guys can be ready so soon? You might have to stay for a while until things calm down."

Link nodded stiffly, and they were all dismissed, their moods slightly dampened. Back at the inn, Linebeck and Damien collected their things, and left for the workshop that had been offered to them within the hour. Midna spent that same time talking to the innkeeper about the layout of the city, and about the usual siege path. Nearby, Ghirahim kept notes of what he overheard.

There was a sizable area of empty space in the middle of the city, which the innkeeper told them was often used for training of any sort. They gathered up their weapons and made their way through the city to those grounds.

Metal fences lined the perimeter of the training grounds. Midna lined their things up against the fence, counting how many potions they'd brought. Ghirahim swung his sword around a few times, looking around. "I'd like to fight a Goron," he declared. "I've only fought Hylians and the likes; I have yet to face off against a Goron and their strength. I'm sure I'd be faster and more skilled, as demons and sword spirits are recorded to be, but would I be strong enough...?"

"I doubt any of us could manage to be physically stronger than a Goron," Link chirped. "They're some of the known creatures, counting a number of monsters. Midna, I know you're strong, but I doubt you could come close to what a Goron can manage without the use of magic. I'm a robot, but there are limits to what I can do. Ghirahim..." Link paused, watching the demon glance over at him. "You're pretty muscular, but I doubt you could surpass a Goron."

"Pretty muscular?" Ghirahim stopped to inspect himself with a thin smile. "I'm lean, yes, but..."

Midna scoffed. "I mean, you're muscular enough that Linebeck uses you for muscular anatomy reference. There's a reason he doesn't show you that sketchbook of his."

Ghirahim crossed his arms, jutting his chin out. "Well, are they good pictures at least?"

"Obviously. He probably had a thing for you before meeting Damien. You are his type."

"You have the same taste in people as him, then. I was there when you met Urbosa for the first time."

Midna's cheeks reddened and she leapt to her feet, spear in hand. "W-well, that doesn't matter now, does it?! We came here to spar, so let's spar already! No point wasting time."

With a hoarse, short laugh, Ghirahim gripped his sword with both hands. They began sparring before Link even had a chance to try and join. He sat down by their stuff and played around with his new sword, watching them two of them out of the corner of his eye.

The glow of his sword's blade a soft, like his other mechanical sword. The biggest difference was the narrow slab of material up against the edgeless side, which would made sparring easier, as he wouldn't need to worry about breaking weapons. Link deactivated the sword and watched the blade fold in and curl up. He set it by his side and stretched, feeling the wires in his arms shift around. Why he had tactile awareness for the inside of his arms, he didn't know.

Seeing Linebeck walk over, dragging his feet, was a bit of a surprise to Link. "I thought you were going to get started?"

"I've got some free time," Linebeck said, shrugging and sitting down next to Link. "Damien said he'd set everything up. I'll get started in an hour or something." He let out a long sigh and peered at Link. "Any problems since we fixed you up?"

"Nothing that I've noticed."

"You're still not concerned about the heart and brain? The organic material in you? The unnatural shit that really shouldn't still be alive?"

Link rolled his eyes. "Nope. It concerns you guys more than it concerns me. The thing that I'm still curious about is the eye-flashing thing. That hasn't happened in a while."

"It happened while he was fixing you," Bellum chirped, joining the conversation. "He was checking on your eyes while repairing you and that flashing thing happened. 'Course, we still have no idea why it happens."

Link sat up, drawing his knees to his chest. "If it helps... I always feel a bit of a shiver down my spine afterwards. It's a cold feeling, almost like fear or shock. That's all I can say in the matter."

Linebeck frowned, clearly pondering what had been said, and Bellum muttered, "What, no kind of déjà vu? Nothing that can help us with this stuff? On our end, there's a wave of déjà vu, and then it's over. Course, nothing comes to mind, but I can tell that something about you reminds him of something in his past. While for him, there's nothing, he'll try and access past memories and hit a wall, I can actually reach a void area. What about you?"

Frowning, Link shrugged. Thinking back, he sifted through his memories, ignoring the pre-existing information. Each memory was pristine and recalled as if they had just happened, presevered perfectly in his memory logs. Going further, Link found the moment when he'd first woke up, a lizard having crawled into his chest cavity, and then he hit a wall of nothing. "There's a wall for me, too. Like a mental block or something."

Bellum narrowed his eye, floating closer to Link. "You get a wall? Like Linebeck and Midna and Ghirahim?"

"Yes."

"Hm. Well, like I said, I find a void of sorts. Like a black ocean- I can see the surface of the memories, get a hazy, extrememly fuzzy and distant feeling from them, but I can never break the surface to see the memory itself. The déjà vu he experiences from the eye-flash-thingy rouses specific memories all across that void ocean, and allows strong emotions to seep through, but only for a few quick moments." With a heavy sigh, Bellum swiveled back over to Linebeck. "Speaking of, we haven't had time to discuss your most recent bout of déjà vu."

Linebeck waved a hand. "We can do that tonight." He looked past Bellum, at Link. They maintained eye contact for a moment, and Linebeck shifted his gaze to slightly above Link's eyes. "I've talked to the others about it, too. Ghirahim has the same wall, but he has a feeling that there's something beyond it, and Midna has expressed that same opinion. Based off of that and what Bellum and I have come up with, it's safe to assume that our memories were not erased, but perhaps locked away."

"I've got a wall too, so do you think my memories are locked away, too?"

"Probably. We only recently came to this conclusion, so this is the first time we've really talked to you about your memories. We're in agreement that you come from 200 years ago, and that Midna and Ghirahim and I are from the same time- so why would all four of us have our memories locked away in such a similar manner?"

Link pursed his lips. "What if the same person locked away all of our memories? Or it was the same magic or something?"

"That's an idea..." Linebeck mused, leaning back until his lay on the ground, his arms crossed behind his head. "An interesting idea."


	28. Battle on Death Mountain

An uncomfortable tension fell over the group as time ticked by, as the sun slowly slid down in the sky, and the next day came closer. Ghirahim sparred for as long as he could until he started to get in the way of other Gorons preparing for the next day's battle. He slid his sword into its scabbard without a word, collected his things, and returned to the inn to finish up his preparations.

Midna was preparing potions of all kinds for strength and stamina enhancements, handing them out to Gorons who intended to fight. Near midnight, Darunia found her and told her that she no longer needed to supply potions, as they had all that they would need. As the cooking pots, all located near the training grounds, were far from the inn, she decided to instead take a walk in the city to try and calm her nerves. She returned to the inn and practiced her teleporting, giving a still-awake Ghirahim a running commentary on her teleporting experiences and the sensations that went with it.

Link was restless and made his way through the city. His mood was foul due to the impending battle, and only got worse as he spotted Yiga archers wandering the streets, even spotting some of them talking with resident Gorons. At one point on the streets, he ran into a pair of Yiga, who stopped to greet him. His only response was to voice his hate at them, getting no obvious response. They only walked off with quiet farewells and wishes of luck in the next day's fight.

The building at which Linebeck and Damien were allowed to work was near the two chieftain's home, just at a lower and more eastern section of the city. The lights were still on, the light streaming from the stone lanterns not flickering or faltering in the slightest. A pair of Gorons talked just outside, one of them missing two fingers, and the other missing an entire arm. Link grimaced at the thought of what such powerful creatures must've faced to have taken so much. Simple bokoblins and lizalfos would certainly pose no threat, and moblins, while powerful, were clumsy. Keese were but annoyances, and things like wolfos and octorocks weren't able to survive in such heat.

Link quietly greeted the Gorons and slipped past them into the small building. There was only one room, but it was large enough to be comfortable and house a decent workshop with tables and assorted parts. Piles of objects and parts were neatly sorted and lined up on the tables. Linebeck had his own tools lined up in front of him, and was in the back of the room, tinkering with whatever machine he was creating. Damien stood behind one of the front tables, drumming his fingers on the tabletop and muttering something under his breath. His eyes lit up when he saw Link. "You're up late. Do you need something?"

Link shrugged. "I'm just taking a walk. You're up late, too?"

"We've got work to do, so I have an excuse. The two guys out there, we're working on their prosthetics already. You can help, if you'd want, but I doubt that Linebeck would actually let you touch anything."

"I don't really want to help," he explained. "What were you saying under your breath?"

"Thinking up decent prices," Damien replied. "Trying to come up with more reasonable prices for this stuff based off of what they already have. Linebeck doesn't have any actual experience with this kind of stuff, so he's leaving it to me."

"That's a bit rude, throwing all that work at you."

Damien laughed good-naturedly. "Not really. He's pretty busy as he is-" he said, pointing back at Linebeck, "-so it's only fair that I'll crunch the numbers. Do you actually need something, or...?"

Link shook his head. "Just trying to loosen up. I'm pretty nervous about tomorrow. I know that Midna, Ghirahim, and Linebeck are offering to help with me. How about you?" He scratched the back of his head, shifting his weight. "I mean, you shouldn't feel like you need to help. You're just tagging along, so none of this is really your business..."

The carefree smile slid off Damien's face. "No, I'll help. This concerns the fate of Hyrule itself, doesn't it? I'll keep an eye on Linebeck tomorrow and give you guys a better chance to fight without much worry. I can hold my own, I've had to fight off a good number of muggers and monsters before."

The carpenter held Link's gaze for a moment longer, then looked down at the table. Link nodded to himself, backing up a step. "I'll expect to see you there tomorrow, then?"

"Probably in a safer, further back part of the battle, yes. Maybe in an elevated spot. Linebeck's been using that map thing to get glimpses of the intended site of the battle whenever you near it."

Link grimaced. He'd almost forgotten about the tracker in the back of his neck. Reaching up and stroking the synthetic skin on his neck, he shuddered. "I keep forgetting that Linebeck could track me down whenever he wants."

"We all do. He forgot, too, until he remembered that you were why the map display kept moving. You should leave now. Get some rest. Tomorrow's gonna be one hell of a day."

* * *

Link never understood how he was able to dream when shut off, but he did anyways.

The dream before the day of the fight was the clearest- he stood outside a room, a sword in his hands, the blade pointed downwards with the tip touching the carpeted floor. Blurry people walked by, eyeing him almost nervously, like he was something to be feared. Unlike the other dreams, where he'd felt odd and like someone else, this time, he felt... normal. He felt like he was in his own skin.

From the room behind him came muffled, frantic talking. It sounded like three people- two men and a woman. One of the men sounded frantic, his voice regularly cracking and each of his words lined with misery and despair. The woman's voice was surprisingly harsh, but even though he couldn't make out the words, he knew that she wasn't being harsh with the frantic man. The other man spoke most rarely, his voice gentle and always responding to what the frantic man said. There was a sharp tone at times.

A fourth man spoke- this time talking directly to Link. Telling him to join the others. He hesitated, and the frantic man repeated what the fourth had said. Link turned, sliding that sword into a scabbard on his back, and walked into the room. His surroundings were blurry and distorted like he was under water, and he was unable to pinpoint how the three people looked, and he couldn't see that fourth man anywhere.

They all spoke to him, and he responded briefly, voicing his opinion on the matter. Finally, as the scene faded, the words became clear.

"I'll do what I can to make sure no charges are pressed against you," the woman promised.

"I'll make a list of people who may want to hurt you," the gentle-voiced man decided.

"If you want, I'll stay as a guard outside your door," Link himself murmured.

The fourth man's voice rang out, "I'll take care of most of your work for the time being."

Finally, the frantic man spoke, his voice quiet and meek, and Link could tell that something within him was broken. "She deserved to die; I don't care. Just keep everyone else away from me."

* * *

When Link woke, he stared up at the ceiling, comprehending what had been his clearest memory yet. He groped around in his own memories, reaching the wall in his mind once again but could still feel his past dreams beyond it. The wall itself... it almost felt weak. Link blinked a few times, drawing in a slow breath. He had to tell the others. Link sat up on the stone bed, finding himself alone. He gathered his stuff up and dashed out of the inn.

The streets were practically deserted, but Link didn't stop and ask any remaining Gorons what the time was- his own mind murmured that it was nearly ten in the morning. He'd overslept, and no one bothered to wake him.

After a few frantic minutes of searching, Link found his companions at the entrance of the city, milling around at the edge of a crown of Gorons equipped for battle. He slowed his pace as he neared them. "Some friends, not even bothering to wake me in time!"

"You looked so peaceful," Midna sighed. "I didn't want to rouse you from what looked like a really restful sleep."

Link shot her a nasty glare and turned his gaze to Linebeck. He meant to speak but cut himself off as their eyes met and flashed. A cold feeling ran down Link's spine and he scowled. "We really need to figure out what that is."

"I'm working on it." Linebeck reached up and dragged his goggles over his eyes, turning away.

Midna had her currently inactive spear in hand, some makeshift metal graves and bracers secured on her limbs. Ghirahim didn't bother with armor, but he had a golden armband on his right bicep. Link frowned. "When'd you get that?"

Ghirahim blinked and held up his arm. "...This? Darunia offered it to me as a token of thanks for offering to help. Midna got her new armor in the same manner. If I can remember correctly, some magic-users can enchant items made of gold or containing precious gems..." He smiled thinly; his attention now stolen by his new accessory.

Damien offered Link a shrug as the robot shot him a tired look. The carpenter wore no armor and had no weapons aside from what looked to be a hastily lashed-together knife. Linebeck also had no armor to be seen, but he had his bow and a metal quiver of arrows at his hip. The quiver looked newly made, sleek and long and otherwise nondescript.

For a few moments, Link checked over his own equipment, inspecting his sword and armor. "You seemed like you wanted to say something," Bellum drawled, appearing before his eyes and making him jump back.

"Right, right," Link muttered, sheepishly peering back at Linebeck. "I had another one of those dreams, except this one was a lot clearer."

The five of them separated themselves from the crowd of Gorons, afraid of being overheard. Link quietly recounted the events of his dream, putting emphasis on the spoken words and made of a point to remind the others that the details were hazy.

He crossed his arms when finished, and before anyone else could comment, said, "To me, I think the other people are the engineer, magician, and battler from 200 years ago that Zelda told Midna about. I'm not very sure who the fourth person may be."

"It sounded like one of them had just killed someone, a woman," Midna mused. "And that the woman he was with said that she'd prevent anyone from pressing charges, and the gentle-voiced man and Link promised to protect him. The fourth guy was probably a helper or something."

"I don't see how it's relevant," Ghirahim snapped. "Just a conversation between four dead people and a robot hero."

"It hints at my past," Link retorted. "It's important enough. Besides, if I keep having dreams like that, then I might come across what caused Hyrule to be destroyed back then. But now, I'm curious about what appears to be the covering-up of a murder."

"Maybe you're not quite as benevolent as you think," mused Linebeck. "Of course, you're different now than you were back then, but... who knows?"

Link set his jaw. "For now, I just hope I get more of the clear dreams. When are we going to head down to fight?"

"Darunia is doing a head count before we leave, so we've got a few minutes. I'll go and let him know that you're here now," Damien offered.

After a few more minutes, Darunia called out that they were now heading down to fight, and the crowd started moving. Link inhaled slowly, feeling his heartbeat speed up just a little, anxiety worming into his mind. Of all of them, only Ghirahim looked calm- he even had a relaxed smile on his face, his hand on the pommel of his saber. He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders, walking with a swagger, like he couldn't wait for the coming battle.

Link himself had to admit that there was a degree of excitement in his mind, but it was overshadowed by dread. He ran multitudes of possible scenarios in his head, wondering how he'd react to injuries, small victories, or even deaths. He had full confidence in his ability to fight off enemies, and ran through pre-existing strategies, even thinking up how to deal with a lynel if he even ran into one of those deadly beasts.

Linebeck walked by him, showing him the map tablet and pointing out the canyon that they would be fighting in. It was rather shallow and with a number of raised parts that would be good for archers.

Everyone was anxious, aside from Ghirahim, of course. When Link asked him about it, Ghirahim only shrugged and said, "Well, I'm a demon and a sword spirit, right? As a sword spirit, I was created to do war, even if I can no longer produce proof that I'm a sword spirit, and demons? I doubt I need to explain that."

The entrance to the canyon was wide and craggy. Link squinted through a gap in the Gorons at the cave at end of the canyon. Already, he could see monsters gathered in front of the cave entrance.

The Gorons walked down a fourth of the canyon and then stopped. People started dispersing, and Link did the way, weaving through the crowd to the front, finding that Ghirahim was doing the same. Most of the Gorons had metal clubs or hammers, and Link passed a few with bulky spears. Most of them wore little armor outside bracers or helmets.

He and Ghirahim stopped once they reached the front of the crowd and drew their swords. From the looks of it, the monsters were already rushing down the canyon. A quick glance up and down the front line told Link that Daruk and Darunia had fallen back to the middle of the crowd, amongst the rest of the crowd. He had no idea where Midna, Linebeck, or Damien were. He had little time to continue speculating, and he rushed forward with the line, whipping out and activating his shield. Link ran his sword through the chest of the lizalfos that neared him, and the two sides met in a cacophony of shouting and roaring.

Link was careful not to accidentally hit an ally- he ended up pushing into the crowd of monsters, slashing at anything that moved. A blue bokoblin screeched and bashed at his shield and Link pushed back at the monster, shoving it off balance and cutting into its skull. The ease with which his sword sliced through flesh and metal alike sent a thrill through Link. He felled a moblin that got too close and slammed his shield into a lizalfos' side, allowing for Ghirahim to send knives into its chest.

There wasn't time for Link to slip fancy flourishes in with his movements, hacking and slicing at what came into his vision proved to be extraordinarily effective. He ran into a lizalfos wearing a metal head covering and wasted no time in thrusting his blade up into its throat. Behind him, Gorons were efficiently caving in monsters' skulls or ribcages with their heavy weapons.

Link didn't bother moving side to side, he only advanced with slow and steady steps, cutting a path through the tightly packed monsters. If a blade got too closer, something in his mind shouted at him to move and protect himself. His forearms and his lower legs and feet were safely protected by the gauntlets and greaves, but everything else was in constant danger, forcing himself to keep his shield close to his body while he killed and turned monsters to smoke. It was painfully loud at first, and he was dimly aware of his sense of hearing slowly decreasing until the din was bearable.

Nearby, a Goron shouted in pain, and Link abandoned his path to help. A moblin stood over the Goron, the tip of its spear buried in his stomach. Link quickly slew the moblin and cut off most of the shaft of the spear. "Try not to remove it if you want to keep fighting," Link advised the Goron. "If you remove it, it'll make the bleeding worse. Otherwise, I recommend pulling back." The Goron nodded briefly, and Link left him with his companions.

He crossed paths with Ghirahim a few times. The demon looked calm, almost joyous as he practically danced from monster to monster, sporadically summoning knives and slitting throats with an elegancy Link had never seen out of battle. He didn't seem to tire in the least as he slaughtered with ease, his sword practically a blur. At one point, Link struck down a monster that nearly injured Ghirahim. A moment after, Ghirahim regarded him with the briefest of glances and nodded curtly.

Everything started to blend together as time wore on. Link didn't allow his mind to drift far from his current predicament, cutting through monsters and very slowly advancing towards the cave at the end of the canyon. He found that he was thankful that monsters scarcely bled.

* * *

Midna skewered another lizalfos through the eye and retracted behind the line of Gorons. She didn't envy those on the front lines but appreciated the bouts of action and battle that occasionally spurred up around her. Her initial plan had been to kill any monsters that got behind the Goron forces, and she'd expected to find Linebeck or Damien helping alongside her.

Of course, they'd disappeared the moment the battle started. Link and Ghirahim had raced off to the front, and Midna spotted them withdrawing into the crowd in the same way that she was. Daruk and Darunia had pulled her aside for a moment, telling her about how Gorons fought, and that she was free to fight however she wanted before joining the battle. Linebeck and Damien were nowhere to be found after that.

Not long after the start of the battle, Midna began spotting crimson clad and masked Yiga archers on ledges that jutted out from the cliff walls, raining arrows down on the sieging monsters. Even with the combined power of the Gorons and the Yiga assistance, progress was slow, and the sun slowly climbed its way halfway across the sky. Sweat dripped down Midna's brow, and she choked down another foul fireproof potion. Many Gorons thanked her when she handed out concoctions to improve stamina and strength. She downed a strength potion herself and rejoined the fray, the fluidly shifting spearhead slicing through anything it came into contact with as if it were made of thin paper.

A bold moblin faced her down, swinging a long broadsword downwards at her shoulder. Midna ducked out of the way with ease and ran the monster through, moving on to other enemies. If the glowing spearhead and blades didn't kill the monsters, it was the breaking of their necks when the sturdy shaft slammed into them. A few times, she was worried that the thin wire along the shaft would break, but it seemed to act as a blade in itself.

She practiced magic as she went, slipping in and out of shadows to attack or dodge, and practiced the range and speed of her teleportation to aid those in danger. Many Gorons thanked her, referring to her as 'brother', and she made no effort to correct them.

A thin smile made its way onto Midna's face the more she killed. She found a morbid glee in destroying the savage monsters, her initial fear melting away. She almost felt like some kind of deity of war, one of the many beings that Hylians or Ritos or the Gerudo or any of the races worshipped. Her cloak fluttered out behind her as she moved, and her fire-orange hair flowing in the hot air- maybe she was as vain as Ghirahim was. At least their vanity was well-founded.

In the distance, she spotted the demon as she thought of him- a flash of the stark white of his hair and the red of his cloak. He was always easy to pick out in a crowd.

An arrow whizzed by Midna's ear, burying itself in the throat of a bokoblin. She whipped around and spotted a Yiga- the bow-wielding Yiga general, to be specific. The Yiga waved at Midna as if they knew each other. She stared at the Yiga for a moment longer, then jumped back into the fight. She was grateful for the rebellion's help, even if their intentions were murky. They would be dealt with if their destruction became inevitable.

* * *

Being around so many people made Linebeck's skin crawl, but the Gorons were polite enough to avoid touching him. Damien stuck close to him as the battle started, peering around until Linebeck pointed at a ledge halfway up the cliff wall. "That's not too high up, but it should be high enough for what we need, and there's enough room for you, too."

Damien squinted at it. "There's a bit of covering, too, so that'll help so I can switch between being with you and down here. Give me a second... your first time with Yiga teleportation can be pretty disorienting." He wrapped an arm around Linebeck's waist.

"R-right." Linebeck mumbled. He knew that Yiga could take people with them during their teleportation, but he was personally apprehensive of all that. He tightly wrapped an arm around Damien's shoulders and kept quiet as they carefully backed away from most of the action. Damien murmured something, and they disappeared with a puff of smoke.

A few moments later, they re-appeared on the ledge, falling from a few inches above the ground. Linebeck stumbled back and pressed himself against the cliff wall, forcing himself to stop shaking. The process of the teleportation was just a blur of motion, like moving through nothing, though he could still feel Damien. The carpenter was now crouching behind the rock that jutted out enough to shade him. "If you need my help, uh... What's a good signal?"

"Just check in every once in a while," Linebeck said, fumbling with his bow. "I mean, I'll start waving at you or something if I need you." He crept to the edge of the ledge and slowly exhaled, nocking an electric arrow. "Looks like your friends are here," he mumbled, spotting a few Yiga strewn about.

"Yeah, we've had people stationed here since Hyrule City cut most of their ties with them. Like I promised you, I called in some more people to help." Damien peered out from behind the rock, down at the battle. "Try and focus on some stronger enemies, okay? We already have a bunch of archers, so you should focus on the most dangerous stuff." He gave Linebeck a reassuring smile and disappeared in a cloud of paper amulets.

"You should try and improve on that new design of yours," Bellum grumbled as Linebeck drew back the arrow.

"You really need to be more specific," Linebeck grumbled, releasing the arrow and watching it strike a monster's metal shield. The electricity overtook it and sparked out, chaining to every nearby metal item, violently shocking the monsters holding the items. The group of enemies convulsed as the electricity ran through them, and the whole lot of them dropped dead. "I have a lot of things that could be considered new designs."

"You know, the thing you're working on to make it so more people can see and hear me. I bet it'd be nice if you could make something like that for Damien."

"I haven't touched those plans in weeks, and the old prototypes didn't last very long," Linebeck snapped, freezing a trio of monsters with an ice arrow. A nearby troop of Gorons took advantage of the other monsters' confusion and moved to wipe a section of them out. Linebeck let out a low whistle. "Damn. I wouldn't want to be pit against the Gorons."

"Oh, yeah. What they lack in brains they more than make up with brawn." Bellum peered around and then murmured. "Oh, shit. Is that a hinox? Have we even seen one of those before?"

Linebeck shrugged, surveying the battlefield. "There was that time someone made a mini robot version of one, but it was no match for... which robot did I make that month?" Down at the back of the monster crowd, was, indeed, a large hinox. The one-eyed beast stooped and picked up a moblin in one hand like it weighed nothing and flung it over the crowd of monsters. The poor moblin slammed into a group of Gorons, bowling them over. Linebeck flinched, shakily nocking another arrow. "Oh, right."

"How do you miss a monster that big?"

The hinox moved through the crowd of monsters with ease, most of the creatures moving out of the way. "Where did that come from?" Linebeck asked, staring at it. It had makeshift metal greaves wrapped around its short legs to protect against attacks, but Linebeck swapped out his plain arrow for a shock arrow and got to aiming. The Yiga archers had already begun to focus their attacks on the hinox. One of the archers got a clear shot to its eye, disorienting and injuring it, but once it regained its bearings, it held up a hand to over its eye. Minutes dragged by, and not a single arrow managed to reach the eye again.

Waiting for a clear shot, Linebeck briefly spotted Link cutting through swathes of monsters, and Ghirahim tearing through them with an elegant ease. He didn't spot Damien and began to worry until the telltale sound of a rapid fluttering of paper began near him. "We need some help with that hinox," Damien said, stumbling over to Linebeck.

"I'm working on it. The monsters by its feet are protecting it, though. If you could get them out of the way or something..." Linebeck trailed off, looking at Damien. Fresh blood was splashed on his right cheek, seeping from a long cut. His right leg was entirely soaked in blood, a ragged hole ripped in his pants, showing off blackened, burnt skin, the innermost section still leaking blood. It gave off a foul smell, and Damien winced in pain every time he placed the slightest weight on it.

Damien cut Linebeck off before he got a chance to speak. "Don't worry about me," he snapped, his voice strained. "I'll be fine, I'll stay away from most of the danger..." He trailed off into a low groan, shifting all of his weight onto his uninjured leg. Initially having been holding his axe resting against his shoulder, he jabbed it against the ground like it was a cane. "I'll come up with a plan to give you an opening, okay? I can have the other Yiga get rid of the monsters by its feet, or get some warriors to lead them away, or..." He was cut off by a roar from the fighters down below, and the two of them inched over to the edge.

The hinox was nearly at the front line of the Goron's forces, and more monsters were still tricking from the cave opening. Based off of the size of the cave's opening, it was a good guess to say that the hinox was just small enough to fit through. Link and Ghirahim were the closest to the monster, darting in and out, dodging the hulking hinox's swipes. Damien let out a shaky breath. "If I get too hurt, I promise to hide out here. The Yiga teleportation spell doesn't draw on very much energy to work, so it's good even if I'm on the verge of death."

Linebeck grimaced. "Just stay out of trouble. If you get into too much danger, I'm a bit worried that the other Yiga might accidentally give your identity away or something like that. Just..." He gritted his teeth, keeping his eyes locked on the hinox. "Don't get done in."

"Thought you had more faith in me than that," Damien retorted with a harsh laugh. He reached over and grabbed a handful of Linebeck's coat, tugging him closer. "Same to you, then. Don't get done in. I love you."

Linebeck grunted in response, not trusting that he would be able to stop if he started to talk. Damien lingered for a moment later, then disappeared in usual Yiga fashion, reappearing near the back of the Goron crowd.

* * *

Midna dashed between Gorons as she ran, sometimes resorting to teleportation or shadow-walking in order to get closer to the hinox. It had already put a good dent in the Gorons' numbers- Midna had watched a large crowd of injured Gorons escaping the canyon back to the city and gave them a small sack of stamina potions. Now that the hinox was so close to the Goron forces, she wanted to join Link and Ghirahim as quickly as possible.

Midna slew a number of monsters that got in her way, and stumbled to a stop once she found Link, who was slowly circling the hinox. "What's the problem, why isn't it dead yet?!"

"We've been waiting for you. Your spear has the best reach to deal with something like this. Its legs are plated with metal so there's nothing we can do, even though we've got Yiga scum turning this thing into a walking pincushion."

"What, Ghirahim's daggers aren't doing jack shit?"

"A hinox's skin is really thick, so things like his daggers and arrows from an extended distance won't do very much. Your help will be very appreciated."

Midna nodded and ran past him. The hinox was slowly walking, a group of normal monsters huddled around its legs. She swiftly killed one with a jab to the throat, but another monster quickly filled its spot. Midna hopped back, scowling. So, there was the problem. She glanced back at Link. There were tears in his clothing, a cut across the bridge of his nose, and rips in his chest. Some wires were poking out of one of the holes, and she silently hoped that they weren't too important.

Ghirahim dashed by, pelting monsters with daggers and slashing at any too-close monsters. Midna had rarely seen him injured, but blood stained the ends of his hair, originating from a wide tear in his chest, from his right collarbone to under his armpit. His knees were bleeding profusely, his pants torn, and the skin scraped off the fronts of his thighs, bright red muscle shining through. Still, he ran without falter and sent a volley of daggers into the hinox's chest.

Ghirahim hesitated by Midna, and she darted over and grabbed his arm. "How are things going?"

"Badly," he panted. "We've lost too many Gorons, and if you try and jump up, the damned thing just swats you away like a fly. Nearly tore my kneecaps right out after being slid across the ground post-swat. You're our best chance, for now."

Midna nodded curtly and let him go. Once free, Ghirahim immediately sent knives at the hinox's eyes, only for them to be buried hilt-deep into the back of its hand. Going for its eye wasn't a strategy that would work twice. She sprinted at the monsters at its feet again, dispatching a few of them to give herself a brief opening. She thrust her spear up at the flabby skin hanging off the hinox's body, the spearhead sinking in a few inches. She jerked the spear to the side, opening a long cut in the hinox's side before she had to back up as monsters converged on her.

The cut seemed to irritate the hinox, who let out a low groan. Midna wrinkled her nose at it, glaring at its ugly, pig-like face. She'd never seen one in real life, only in pictures, and holy Hylia, they were uglier than she could have anticipated. She especially hated its thick, chipped and faint yellow nails. It stooped and picked up a squealing bokoblin and chucked it at her. Midna teleported a few feet to the side, wincing as she heard the sharp crack of the bokoblin's spine snapping.

As deadly as the cut she'd made looked, it was nothing to a hinox. She set her jaw, now frustrated. Things would be quickly ended if they could get up to its eye, but that was clearly no longer an option. There were a lot of Yiga archers, but it seemed like most of them were still focused on the surrounding monsters. A quick survey of the ledges on the cliff walls let her know where Linebeck was- one of the ledges closer to the Gorons' side, half hidden by a rock as he crouched and switched between shooting shock arrows and ice arrows.

If he could get a clear shot at the hinox's metal plates with a shock arrow...

Midna was jostled out of her thoughts by the sight of Damien, blood spattered and stumbling, dashing over to her as best as his burnt leg would allow. "M-Midna! Where's Link? And Ghirahim?"

"What happened to your _leg_?" Midna breathlessly asked, staring at the blackened flesh.

"Fire-breathing lizalfos. That's not important. Where are they?" He suddenly whipped around and swung his axe at a moblin that got too close, nearly cleaving it in half.

"I think that's a third-degree burn-"

"Oh, don't worry, it's pretty close to third-degree," Damien breathed, staring around. "Oh, there's Link! Go get Ghirahim for me." He staggered off without any further explanation, and if they weren't in the middle of a battle, MIdna would've been frozen in bewilderment. Instead, she ran off, quickly spotting Ghirahim again. He was miffed when she stopped him for the second time but agreed to see what Damien wanted.

Link looked just as confused as Midna felt, but all of them huddled off to the side with Damien, panting and leaning on his axe. "T-that hinox is a problem, eh?" He smiled weakly as he was answered with scathing glares. "Yeah, yeah... enough wasting time. Linebeck is the only guy here with shock arrows, and if we can give him a clear shot to that bastard's legs, it should give us enough time to kill or at least fatally injure it. Ghirahim, you'll have to stay out of the way, though, since people who have too much metal on them will most likely get killed if they try and help while it's shocked.

"I've spoken with a few of the Yiga archers- I found some of the foot soldiers to be messengers- so they should be focusing more on the monsters at the hinox's feet by now. We need to help make an opening- it needs to be for a few whole seconds. Once it's shocked, Link and Midna should be able to go up and kill it." He paused. "Probably only Midna. I keep forgetting that you're a robot, Link."

Link frowned. "Oh, right. Damn. What if this fails?"

"Then ignore the hinox and figure out where these monsters are coming from. Our goal here is to try and stop the monsters all together, right?"

Link nodded. "You're not going to help us attack, right? With your leg that messed up, you might only get in the way."

Damien narrowed his eyes but said nothing in response. "We should put the plan into motion. No more wasting time, alright?"

It was clear to them that the Yiga had heard the plan by the time they returned to the hinox. Arrows pelted the monsters at its feet, most of them ending up in an eye or a throat. Ghirahim and Midna got to attacking, but Link held back for a moment. Damien swayed slightly; his pain was more obvious on his face than before. Link walked over to him. "You should probably fall back-"

"I've dealt with worse, leave me alone."

"Seriously, though. With your leg like that, you'll be really vulnerable."

"I'm serious. I'll be fine." Damien practically shoved Link aside, and set off in a lurching run, lopping off the head of the first monster he came near. Link gritted his teeth and decided to stay near Damien for the duration of the battle. Even if he had no problem defending himself from immediate threats, it was now easier for him to be caught off guard or off balance.

* * *

The bowstring felt like fluid between Linebeck's fingers while he waited, the shock arrow drawn back and aimed at the hinox. The rapid deaths of a large group of monsters let him know that a plan was in motion, so he kept the arrow at ready, aimed at the hinox's protected legs. He could see Midna and Ghirahim darting about, as well as Link and Damien- Link seemed to be tailing Damien from a distance.

At first, the archers shot at any monsters, but slowly began to focus on the same group that Link and the others were concentrating on. A hole in the group of monsters slowly began to open, and Linebeck forced his arms to quit shaking. Bellum faded into sight beside him, staring intently. "...Now. Shoot now!"

Linebeck loosed the arrow and held his breath. Luckily, no one stumbled into the way, and no monsters refilled the empty spot. The shock arrow sailed through the air, and the crystal arrowhead shattered on impact with the hinox's metal greaves. The sheer electricity stored in the arrowhead burst out, and webs of electricity spread across the beast's entire body. It let out a low roar and trembled in pain.

Within moments, Midna managed buried the head of her spear into its stomach and haphazardly began to climb up its body, to its head and unprotected eye. Ghirahim backed off, killing any bold monsters with hails of knives. Link looked as though he would join Midna, but Damien grabbed his arm, speaking urgently, as if reminding him of something.

While the hinox wasn't that tall of a monster, it's shaking kept Midna from moving too quickly, although she struck at it whenever she had the chance. The electricity began to die down as she reached its head and plunged the glowing blue spearhead deep into its eye. The hinox screamed, and Midna teleported back to the ground and sprinted away. The hinox, now fully in control of its actions and free from the electricity, cried out and lifted its hands to its ruined eye.

A few moments passed, and nothing happened- the hinox remained alive, stumbling about slightly, and Link set off running, dashing past it. Linebeck stared at the hinox in horror. "Why isn't it dead?" he hoarsely asked. It shook its head, eye still a ruined mess, and continued walking through the crowd. "It should be, dead, why isn't it dead?!"

"Hell if I know," Bellum spat. "All we can do now is hope that Link can cut off the source of monsters," he muttered, bringing Linebeck's attention back to the robot. Link was swiftly cutting a path through the monsters, making his way to the cave.

"I'll try another shock arrow," Linebeck growled, groping at the arrows in his quiver. He ripped them out, one after another- Normal, fire, ice, normal, normal, ice...

"WE'RE OUT OF SHOCK ARROWS?!" Bellum screamed, his voice loud enough to trigger screeching feedback in Linebeck's ears. The engineer clapped his hands over his ears and glared angrily at Bellum. The AI barely offered up an apology- he probably wasn't even aware that he could cause feedback like that. "What... what about ice? ...No, that never does anything... Fire won't do shit either... I'd say use an explosive arrow if those things didn't explode the moment this damned hot air touches them..." Bellum mumbled to himself, spinning in circles while the situation down in the canyon became frantic.

Linebeck tore the quiver off his belt and poured all of the remaining arrows onto the group. He fell to his knees and dug through the pile, tossing the normal arrows back into the quiver before they could catch fire. "Link's pretty close to the cave now- Damien's fighting the hinox," Bellum reported. Linebeck blindly grabbed a bunch of arrows and whipped back around to the battlefield. Yiga foot soldiers were now mixed in among the Gorons, racing towards the monsters. Damien circled the hinox, the monster's attention focused on him, blinding swinging its arms.

Linebeck tossed the elemental arrows away until only one of his ancient arrows remained. He stared at it for a moment and ran a finger over the inactive arrowhead. He peered back down at the battle. The hinox slammed a hand into the ground, dangerously close to where Damien was stumbling. Link was almost to the mouth of the cave- he didn't need anyone watching over him. Linebeck shakily nocked the arrow. "Let's see what this does."

His hands shook and made it painfully difficult to aim. He forced the joints in his left arm to lock up and kept his aim on the hinox. Damien continued to run around the hinox's legs, limping and keeping its attention. Linebeck's heart skipped a beat as the hinox managed to land a blow on Damien- swatting him with a hand and sending him tumbling across the rocky ground. The hinox began to lumber over to Damien as he tried to get back to his feet.

Linebeck, breath caught in his throat, and he bit at his bottom lip. "Shoot already," Bellum hissed. Blood ran down Linebeck's chin as he bit through his skin and forced himself to go still. He let the arrow loose and watched it fly through the air as nothing but a blue blur. Linebeck wiped at the blood on his chin, anxiously watching the arrow sink into the hinox's shoulder. The moment it hit, the monster's skin around the arrow began to glow blue- and the blue rapidly began to spread across the hinox's body.

Within moments, the hinox was enveloped in the color, which began to peel up and away in tendrils- where the blue peeled up remained nothing. As the neon tendrils flowed up into nothingness, the hinox simply disappeared. The monsters that had been around the hinox froze, and the Gorons took advantage of their confusion.

Linebeck stared at where the hinox had just been. "What in the fuc-"

A triumphant roar rose from the Goron army, and they redoubled their efforts in the fight, practically trampling the monsters. Link flinched at the sudden noise. He glanced over his shoulder. The hinox was nowhere to be seen, so Link allowed himself a deep sigh of relief. He continued to dash at the cave, ignoring the dull ache in his torn leg. He was so close to the cave, now. He'd been ripping through monsters the whole way, and it seemed that there was now a pause between the waves.

As he grew nearer to the cave, he became of a second, quieter set of footsteps following after him. Link glanced over his shoulders and scowled, spotting the bow wielding Yiga general, in their short maroon cloak, black scarf fluttering behind them. "Piss off," Link snapped, skidding to a stop and holding his sword out at them.

The Yiga halted as well and deftly nocked an arrow in their bow, pointed right at Link's throat. The robot faltered. The Yiga had the upper hand- if Link did anything else in a hostile manner, he was done for. He lowered his sword. "What do you want?"

The Yiga lowered their bow and pointed at the cave, then at themselves, then Link. Without a single spoken word, they dashed towards the cave. Link growled and followed. The road to the cave was empty, and they both entered at the same time. Link's eyes adapted to the darkness, but the bow Yiga seemed to have trouble. They stumbled around for a moment, then held out a lantern that looked Sheikah-made, giving off a strong blue glow.

The cave was larger than Link had hoped or expected, and he quickly realized that there was nothing important on the ground- what caught his attention were the things hanging from the roof of the cave. Dim lanterns and crystals of all shapes and sizes, hanging from chains. Link gazed up at them. The Yiga beside him nocked an arrow- they'd wrapped their lantern's rope around their wrist.

Link swallowed thickly, regarding the black-scarved Yiga. "Destroy any red gems or crystals you see. That's been the trend so far. Destroying a red gem to defeat the evil we come across."

The Yiga slowly nodded, tilting their head back to look up at the crystals. Many of them were blue or purple, the light from the lanterns brightly reflecting off of their smooth surfaces. The Yiga drew back their arrow and carefully aimed. "Hit one of the red ones," Link urgently reminded them. The Yiga gave him no response as they shot the arrow.

It cut through the air, sailing past dozens of crystals and lanterns, flying up, up, up above everything else. Frustration began to build in Link's chest as the arrow missed every single hanging object. Still, he glared up at it, his vision slowly brightening to keep track of it. He then cursed under his breath, realizing that the Yiga had taken the best course of action.

On the roof of the cave itself was a large red gem, circular in shape and roughly ten feet in diameter. The Yiga's arrow struck it and sent cracks webbing across its surface. Crimson fragments rained down on them, and the Yiga bowman nocked and shot another arrow up. This time, a larger chunk fell down and shattered on the other side of the room. A third arrow was shot, and the rest of the gem shattered and fell. A pale mist wafted up from the fragments.

Link crushed a fragment into dust beneath his boot. That was it, then? The Yiga archer lingered, then tore a slip of paper in half. Link whipped his sword out again, but the Yiga only shook their head. A few moments passed, and another Yiga appeared in a cloud of paper amulets. Link immediately recognized the black scarf and hooded tunic, the katana with the blood-red hilt. "What do you want?" he snapped, glaring at the Yiga general that had first attacked him in Hyrule City.

The Yiga barely acknowledged him, kneeling down by an especially large piece of gem. They held it gingerly, the bow Yiga peering at it over their shoulder. With a jolt of surprise, Link spotted the Yiga pocketing the gem shard. "Hey, don't take that-"

The sword Yiga leapt up and slammed the pommel of their sword into Link's temple, and the robot fell, unconscious before he hit the ground.

* * *

It didn't take long for the Gorons to do away with the remaining monsters once they realized that they were suddenly weaker. The shift had been jarring for Ghirahim- one moment, the monsters were wielding their weapons with easy and taking a number of hits before going down, and then the next they were sagging and practically disintegrating beneath every blow; it gave Ghirahim a chance to regroup with Damien and Midna.

Since the hinox was killed, the three of them found that they could relax despite their injuries. Ghirahim hadn't gotten hurt any worse while the battle died down, but Midna took a nasty blow to the ribs, leaving a discolored bruise along her side. Damien had the worst injuries though, with his burnt leg and the gash in his cheek, and now with a dislocated arm and a few cracked ribs after the hinox struck him. Damien lay on the ground, his axe nowhere to be seen, while Midna dug through her potion bag.

Ghirahim crouched by Damien. "You're lucky to be alive."

"W-we all are. You saw what that... ancient arrow did, right?"

"...I doubt Linebeck expected that to happen."

"We're lucky that worked," Midna mumbled, setting down a small vial of health potion. "This is all I've got for you, Damien. Ingredients for health potions are hard to come by."

Damien craned his head to look at the tiny vial. "I'll take it," he rasped. "Link went for the cave, right? I saw him go. Where's Linebeck?"

"On his way, I'm sure. He was making his way down the cliff when I last saw him," Ghirahim mused, glancing over his shoulder. "Ah, there he is, uninjured, of course..."

Linebeck stumbled over and crouched by Damien, entirely ignoring the others. "Goddesses, I'm so glad you're alright. I don't know what I would've done if that ancient arrow hadn't done what it did... how hurt are you?"

Damien gave him a weak grin, not at all hiding the amount of agony he was clearly in. "Oh, y'know... same as before with a new dislocated arm... some cracked ribs... Midna offered a bit of health potion, expect she put it on the side with my dislocated arm..." he shot a quick glance at Midna, who rolled her eyes and set the vial in his left hand.

With difficulty, Damien managed to pop the cap off the vial. "This won't do much, will it," he grumbled, peering at the meager amount of potion.

"It's mostly just numb the pain, but it will heal surface level cuts and the like," Midna admitted. "Again, you'll be pretty numb for about an hour." She glanced at Ghirahim and motioned subtly. He nodded. Midna looked back down at Damien. "Take it whenever, but you might as well do it now."

Damien frowned, but swallowed the potion without any resistance. "Yeah, already feeling a bit numb." He smiled at Linebeck. "But you're not hurt, right? Not hurt getting down from the cliff or anything?"

Damien quickly seemed occupied with talking to Linebeck. Ghirahim placed both hands on Damiens dislocated arm, which got Linebeck's attention- he quickly seemed to understand.

While Damien was distracted, Ghirahim took in a quick breath and roughly shoved the carpenter's arm back in place. Damien immediately dropped what he had been saying to scream and cursed at Ghirahim. "Son of a bitch- I though the damn potion would numb the pain!"

Midna unsympathetically shrugged. "Not large amounts of pain." She stood up, easily dodging a swipe from Damien. "C'mon, your shoulder's back in place. We need to find Link."

Ghirahim stood in a single fluid motion and said, "I'll find Link. It's probably best that you guys get Damien back to Goron City. Don't let him walk; that'll only make any damage the burn did worse."

"Your legs look like hell, too," Midna muttered. "I'll go get Link." She placed a hand on Ghirahim's shoulder. "Seriously, you need your injuries looked at, too." Ghirahim hesitated, then sighed and nodded. Midna smiled and dashed off.

Midna found herself hopping over leftover monster parts, occasionally stooping down to grab some for later. It didn't take long to reach the cave, where she found Link out cold on the ground, surrounded by red shards. She hoisted him up into her arms and peered around. The Yiga swordsman glanced at her from the darkness.

"It's been a while," Midna called. "What, a month or two since you attacked us in Hyrule City?" She paused. "You didn't hurt him, did you?"

"We'll only hurt him if he intends to destroy us," the Yiga softly replied. With that, they disappeared.

A chill ran down Midna's spine. The Yiga spoke with the voice of a woman, sounding like she'd traveled about the world and fought many enemies, but there was still a softness to it. It was vaguely familiar. She peered around the cave one last time and exited with Link in her arms.

Midna could assume, based off of Link's sustained damage, that Linebeck was going to be busy for the next few days.


End file.
